One of the great things about opening up my art practice to others is the discovery of some surprising and serendipitous connections.  This photo shows one of those connections.  I love the way that the girls are out in front of the boys, proudly holding their bat and catcher’s mitts.  Most of all I love that cheeky twinkling smile of the (Mom?) in the back.  I bought the photograph from an antique shop, so I have no idea where it is or who this family was.  In the art installation, I think I’ll put the print from it close to the hexagon “star” with Tesa’s contribution.

Contribution from Tesa Strasser

“Two of the most impactful women in my life are my daughters. They both played softball and it has been a bonding activity for us. We have spent many hours traveling to fields, practicing and playing the game of softball. We have met great friends and made serious memories. She is about to graduate and those days will be over.” –Tesa Strasser  (submitted in March, 2009)

Sarah and Emily Ritchey

My Mom, Sarah Ritchey, sends me letters and postcards that reflect her everyday life.  I have a box of them that I look through every once in a while and I am reminded of some of the small special things that she has shared with me over the years: recipes, encouragement, laughter.  Here I am as a baby, in Sobradinho, on the outskirts of Brasilia, Brazil.  She was probably with my Dad, who was a soil scientist, at an experiment site.  I wonder when I see this what it must have been like to push this pram over dirt and rocks!

Hexagon stars from contributions by Cigdem Slankard

These are some hexagons that I made from contributions from artist and filmmaker Cigdem Slankard. She sent me a video clip from her home town of Istanbul, Turkey. I chose some stills from the video to make these cyanotypes. Here is a link to a site about Cigdem and her work:

http://www.oppidanarts.com/Cigdem-Slankard/about.html

How the project got started

This project got started with a related piece I made for the show Autobiographies, at the Clay Center, in Charleston, West Virginia.

I asked 6 women who were close to me to send me contributions from the following categories: People, Places and Writing/Words.  I took their contributions, made prints from them, and mounted them onto wooden hexagons (since there were six of them), and arranged them visually on the wall.

Around the same time as I was getting ready for that show, a very good friend and colleague gave me a pair of binoculars, a beanbag, and a map of the sky.  I became interested in astronomy, thanks in part to him. Little did I know when I moved to the country in Ohio not long after, that my view of the splendors of the stars would be so much more visible and glorious!

So it was natural to want to connect with new people in my new locale, and it seems natural to expand the project by opening it up to others.  I am particularly interested in finding out more about everyday lives of women, and the lives of women in past generations.

I am a woman in my thirties who is thinking about motherhood. I am wondering how I might fit together different aspects of my life: career (in teaching, and as an artist), mother (to be, hopefully), daughter, sister, and wife.   At this time in my life, I am very keen on listening to the stories and experiences of other women as they have dealt with the challenges of their lives.

Looking for little windows into women’s lives

I am artist located in Canton, OH.  Although over the years I have been a painter, recently I have been delving into mixed media.  I’ve also decided to face outward in my work–looking for collaborators, rather than just working alone in my studio.  You can learn more about me and see some examples of my past work on my website, www.emilyvigil.com.

I am seeking images of or by women to post as stars in this cyberspace sky, in addition to the “real” sky I am making in the Constellations of Women art installation.  You may have met me recently in my studio, demonstrating the cyanotype printing process, or you may have heard about my project from a friend, or stumbled upon this blog on the web.

My current project is about building and sharing stories by and about women, through the web, community workshops and a traveling exhibition. Participants send in images and stories about the women in their lives. Women may also share their own images or points of view. The project will culminate in a touring art installation, consisting of hundreds of hexagon “stars” featuring images representing women and their experiences.  I am still accepting image contributions for the exhibition!

I am starting this blog so that I can share some of the images and stories that people have sent me for this project.

This is a sample of what the cyanotype prints I make from contributions look like in context.