Indivisibler... this also has nothing to do with monsters...

Although I am a self-taught knitter and most of my creating takes that form these days, I did study art in college. I was a painting major and loved it. I majored in ceramics too, but painting was always my first love. Painting consumed my thoughts and, even more so, consumed my time. I needed it that way. I hate to say I've leaned toward knitting monsters out of convenience because I love making them too, but picking out some yarn and sitting down to knit is a whole lot easier than setting up to paint... and I can take my knitting anywhere! I can't deny it though, sometimes I miss painting and working through bigger  ideas so badly that it hurts. 

This weekend I headed down to Ohio to see my friend John's thesis exhibit. He is graduating soon with his MFA from Ohio University and Friday was the opening for his show. John and I were both painting majors and good friends in undergrad. After graduation we headed in different directions. I went on to get another degree in Art Education right away while he took a year off to work and then applied to grad schools for fine art. John is really an amazing person to have known both personally and as an artist. His recent work is very thoughtful and draws connections between material [in this case mostly housing construction materials] and our own bodies. 

He has a website at johnburtsanders.org where there are more details on his work. Although he hasn't posted his statement about his show on the site,  I'll post it here so you can have a clearer idea of his intent. [We'll call it an erinmakesstuff exclusive.]:

In Indivisibler, textures and materials fuse together to generate a tangled field of associations between viewers’ bodies and the installation of works. Alternating between formal cohesion and material disintegration, this work traces connections between body, architecture and landscape in order to merge them into an increasingly undifferentiated mass. For instance, by noting analogous textures and functions between one’s own skin and fiberglass insulation, an uncertainty between contained body and exposed environment imposes a confusion of inside and outside. This uncertainty is amplified by the eclectic arrangement of familiar materials in which common substances collide to induce uncommon experiences.

It has been a great weekend of art, meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Six hour car rides are also a great chance to get some knitting done! This week I'll be posting pictures of the new batch of yetis and [if everything goes right!] they will also be on etsy by next weekend. Beyond all that this weekend has also given me the urge to start painting again. Stay tuned...

Images by John Burt Sanders.
[PS... after Indivisibler comes down, the building materials will be reused to insulate a house.]