Mugi

Some 20 years ago, I was excited to notice a new store in my then neighborhood–the upper west side, just beginning to gentrify. I walked in filled with a sense of wonder. Even though it was clear it was a clay studio and the term “Mugi” must be a reference to the mugs in the window, I wondered what it really meant. So I asked the proprieter– who told me: “Of course part of the reason we named the store “Mugi” is because of the mugs…that people learn to make here. But the term comes from the Zen: “Mugi” refers to the struggle between the artist and their medium. Anytime the artist wants to create a work, there is the idea in the artist’s mind. But the material also has it’s own “mind” or intention of what it wants to become. The art which is created is the result of this dialogue or interaction between the artist and their medium.

Perfect 8

“Penetrating Empathy” is an exhibit based on Perfect 8, a publication dedicated to the de-objectification of people by sharing visual works of artists which encourage the growth of empathy. To deconstruct the myth perpetrated in our society that people are objects and obtainable products, Perfect 8 engages viewers and readers on an empathetic level, attempting to induce curiosity as to what it would be like to experience the feelings of another. Offering an alternative to “Perfect 10″ with faults, frailties, and weaknesses, Perfect 8 celebrates an unveiled humanity, one that embraces the beauty found in “faulty” qualities.

swirl

Never stop asking yourself:

What do you want to be?

lovely lines by Anne Nwokoye

Don’t Mess With Me

Last I-beam

well, they signed the last I-beam:

and hoisted it.

Free Hugs

Hello world!

I’m barely here.

Battle

One evening an old Cherokee told his granddaughter about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My daughter, the battle is between 2 wolves; One is Evil. The other is Good.”

The granddaughter thought about it for a minute and then asked her grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee replied, “the one you feed.”