Holding a full-on, in-person Open Studio on May 14-15 for the first time since 2019 was incredibly satisfying - seeing many friends and collectors in-person for the first time in ages; unveiling new photographic and sculptural work to good response; my first sales of sculptural photographs and shaped paper sculptures; many great conversations about art, life, science; and more.
Thanks to all who attended! Here’s an overview of the weekend -
Hello! This is me on Sunday, just before opening. On the left is my project Meditations in the Forest, Japan, and on the right is Impossible Journey (AKA The Wall). Besides unveiling a bunch of new artwork, this was also the unveiling of a new look for me, which was fun to surprise people with.
And here are some of those visitors in a view from the studio door. There are pieces from about five different bodies of work in this picture, both photographic and sculptural, plus samples on the work table. Keep scrolling for closer views. (Photo - Todd Sulzinger)
Above is the full installation Impossible Journey. I finished this just before Open Studios and the satisfaction of shaping and affixing the last few meters to the wall was incredible. For scale - the wall is 20’ wide and 10’ tall, and I’ve crumpled, folded, torn, braided, woven, crocheted and otherwise shaped180 m of 1 m wide sekishu paper to make this. You can learn more about this project here.
And this is the other project seen over my shoulder in the picture above, Meditations in the Forest, Japan. These are from a wonderful forest hike in the fog along the Old Tokaido Road near in the Hakone region of Japan. These are printed on a thin kozo and coated/embedded with cold wax.
In the opposite corner of my studio I displayed photographs from my ongoing obsession with water in all its forms. The two in the foreground are from my Dreamspace series and the two in the center are from Form and Formless. The shelves on the right contain studies and maquettes for other 3D work.
The work in color here is a new project called Transformed Lands, which are aerial photographs from commercial airline flights that I’ve printed on a clear acrylic medium and then shaped back into 3D topographies. The Open Studio is the first time I’ve shown these to anyone in person. See the grid below for closer pictures of a couple of individual pieces.
More visitors. It was so wonderful to reconnect with so many friends and collectors in person again! (Photo - Todd Sulzinger)
Here are some closeups of the display in my studio during Open Studios.
Here are all of us at Project 275 who participated in SVOS 2022, in our common hallway. Clockwise from front left - Pat Mayer, me, Peter Foley, Colleen Sullivan, Robert Perry, and Shirley Bunger. Below are some photos from each of the others’ studios and our displays in our joint hallways. (Photo - Todd Sulzinger)
That’s it from me for Silicon Valley Open Studios. To get invitations to future events in my studio and at Project 275 as a whole, enter your email in the form here! (Photos - Todd Sulzinger)