I made the painful decision in early January of this year to go on an extended hiatus from producing podcasts to write my memoir. I wanted to create space to fully commit to writing and publishing a book. I so miss the contemporary women artists and our conversations about their work and practice recorded for the shows.
My current engagement with women artists are being composed on the blank page. It is a solitary endeavor. Five to six days a week I sit at my laptop, a notebook, pencil and books arranged nearby on the table, to write. Leading up to the moment my hands begin to type, I perform a short sequence of actions to stir my muse. I listen to the same playlist by German film score composer Hans Zimmer. I take some deep cleansing breaths, as my gaze settles on this Hannah Hoch collage print: “Life Portrait.” (1973)
“Life Portrait” is a series of 38 collage works by Hoch finished just five years before her death at the age of 83. Presented in a book of the same title, the viewer is “enlightened” by her visual imagery and accompanied quotations. I love the way Hoch’s gaze is doubled by the portrait of her cat. The light in her eyes coaxes me to embrace this writing life; to employ words to illuminate the artistic, visual maker to my reader. The ways art can transform both our intellect, spirit and imagination.
Hannah Hoch used photographs taken from sources like books and magazines she cut, pasted and assembled into new composition; a journey through a chaos of textures and discerning juxtapositions that challenge us to see modern life and “women” in new ways. She is one of my visual heroes. I dedicated a podcast episode to her two years ago. If you want to learn more about Hoch, please click link below.
What rituals do you put in place to stir your muse in your creative work? Email me at beyond_thepaint@yahoo.com. I am thinking of dedicating a podcast episode to this query when I return to producing my show. Perhaps you can be my guest. 🙂