MAKING MY OWN RESIDENCY PRACTICE
In August 2018, we moved from Charlotte to be closer to my husband's work; while we searched for a home to buy, we lived temporarily in the former mill village of Glencoe, NC, in a beautiful house built in the late 1890s to house the supervisor of the mill. While at this residence, I was able to have a small studio space for the first time since I graduated from UNCCharlotte in 2016. I considered this temporary living arrangement to be a residency of sorts, in that I was constantly inspired by the history and environment of my surroundings; though I was not formally sponsored or part of an official residency, I treated it like a residency, and created several themed bodies of work, including photos that drew on the history of the "mill girls" who worked and lived in the village, photos and video documentation of the beautiful orb weavers that blanketed the house, and live illustrations of families enjoying natural space in the park. I created the tag
#glencoemillresidency on instagram to organize the work that I did while at this residence into one space. There are also illustrations from that project that are available to
view here.
We have since moved to what we thought would be a permanent residence in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the historic neighborhood of Washington Park. We lived here happily for a year and I was keeping with the residency mindset, in that I was extremely connected to the community, and organized all work made here under the
Southside Artist Residency tag. I created a body of
neighborhood cityscapes from my porch and windows; continued with
black and white film photos that I developed at home, and continued with
Wandering Witness, using new technology to zoom in with a live view on people from a distance, to be able to do the same portraits I used to be able to do pre-coronavirus, from inside my own home.
At the beginning of August 2020, a new auto business moved in next door and began subjecting us to obscene levels of sound at all hours of the day and night. The windows that I use for Wandering Witness are no longer accessible because we have to soundproof them as much as possible, since the neighbors won't soundproof their work area and refuse to address any of our concerns. We have to hide from them to avoid being screamed at and called obscenities. I am no longer able to be connected with the community, so I have turned much more inward to cope with the stress. I have ended the Southside Artist Residency and am continuing with
Recluse Residency, a body of work that will be completely inner-focused. I don't expect other people to get anything out of it, but you can follow if you want; the work I do now is purely about trying to get through each day individually.
I have been in bad health for a very long time, slogged through terrible jobs that paid very little, and dealt with disappointments, letdowns, and lack of opportunity, but I have never faced something like sound torture on a daily basis, in my own home. I have never experienced something this debilitating. It is impossible to hear my own thoughts. We have been harassed and terrorized in our own home and it has been really stressful and hard on my body. I am scared for my safety and afraid of retaliation.
We are focusing on saving up to move; I am focusing entirely on looking forward to that. I was extremely depressed, and most angry, about having to give up my live drawing project, which I have maintained for over 6 years. It made me so angry that no one cared to help, but I have let it go. This is definitely not the community for us. In our next move I hope to have more studio space to be able to start sculpture work again, and that is what I am focusing on.
GLENCOE MILL RESIDENCY
Residency
This folder is the general repository for works from this period of time.
Illustrations
This folder is just the illustrations from this residency.
SOUTHSIDE ARTIST RESIDENCY
City
scapes
Southside Cityscapes are scenes drawn from life from the windows of my house in Washington Park, Winston-Salem.
Project
Southside Artist Residency is the general archive for works from this period of time
RECLUSE RESIDENCY (current)
Project
This folder is the general archive for the project overall; not all individual project works are posted in this folder
Oracle Still Lifes
In this series of ink and watercolor drawings featuring objects from my home, I construct still lifes with objects that take on a mystical quality, like tarot, allowing the viewer to divine meaning.
Portraits of the Artist's Husband
I have been drawing my husband from life since he began working from home in March, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He is a city employee and continued day to day operations in the accounting department from our house in Winston-Salem, NC for over a year. He is now back at work in the main office.
Daily Self Portrait
This project has been ongoing since 2017, and encompasses illustration, animation, photo and video.
ended suddenly due to noise and harassment from our neighbors, I began using live webcams to practice, and recently started sharing the drawings via a blog format.
