Christina Bothwell:: Obsolete

I came across Christina Bothwell's work via Pinterest. Sometimes I think Pinterest replaces the style of my old blog. "You don't need me anymore. You can find your own interesting stuff."

And then other times, I think, "You'll never see this unless I share it on Two Kitties/Small City."

Centaur, 2011, cast glass, raku clay, oil paints, found objects, 21" x 21" x 11" (CB112)  

 

Kundalini, 2011, cast glass, window glass, raku clay, found objects, oil paints, 11" x 5" x 4" (CB114)  

Comments

[Debra]

Thank you.

[Kristen]

Naw. Pinterest isn't about art. It's about craft. Homey arts. Mostly accessible. I have a sort of squint-eyed relation to what would count as artish art. Often, I find it slightly disturbing and while it interests me and surprises me (often with juxtapositions I find jarring but intriguing - while putting me a bit off visually), I sometimes don't want to keep looking at it. Maybe because some things (self-expression) are simply too personal, and the fact that someone wants to display them seems a little almost exhibitionist; then the expression becomes less than honest to me and feels more like some baited hook. I've known a whole lot of actors who fish that way. And I resent being dinner.

And sometimes, the tone can be so - I don't know, self-indulgent. Like wallowing in a personally delicious despair and drama and doom. Sometimes I like parts of things - the texture here, the translucence there. I think I am most often drawn to things that bleed joy, a rejoicing in the depth of the beauty of creation - a thing than has something to do with death, but far more to do with defiant hope. Of course, the more hope there is to something, the less likely it will be considered artistic.

Anyway, thank you for passing on what you find, because I never would, actually, find it myself.

[Kristen]

Except, of course, I see that you have found THIS on pinterest. I guess I haven't really delved into the site so I don't know what's there. I actually, at the push of my offspring, applied for an account, but they haven't bothered to get back to me - two weeks later, I feel somewhat huffy about the thing. Pfff.