Let's Reframe: By Degrees

Some Things Must Stay Home

10/27/2019

 
Picture
Walt Whitman's "This Compost" & Maidenhair ferns...in process.
If you've
been reading
my blog or following
me on Instagram, you'll know
that I was planning to include my altered
Cotillion Dress in my current
solo show at AVA
​Gallery.
Picture
Compost Compositions in the Mayor Gallery at AVA in Lebanon, NH Fall 2019
If you've been
to AVA to find the dress,
you'll know that it's
not there. 

Picture
The mixing and mingling of wool threads on a silk dress.
It intrigues
me how the creative
process works, and how hard
it can be to separate one thread from
another when they all feel
integral to each 
other.
Picture
Embroidered excerpts from Walt Whitman's poem "This Compost" by ERSwett.
The dress
evolved from last
year's curiosity about how
I could share Walt Whitman's poem
"This Compost" in a colorful and affordable
manner by embroidering it on old
things, like a pillowcase or
a cloth diaper from
the 1960's.

Picture
Embroidered final stanza of Whitman's "This Compost" by ERSwett
While 
embroidering,
I listened to numerous
podcasts about art, women,
the climate crisis, racial justice and
the idea of white fragility. Each voice I heard 
inspired me to rethink my past and
my relationship to it. And then
I remembered the white
dress in the attic...
Picture
Giving life to an old dress with ferns from our yard.
And
it all began
because I love the
colors of compost and so
started taking pictures of it all the
time...until, magically, I had
what they call a 'body
of work' worth
sharing.

Picture
Dryer Lint, 2019 Photograph on Paper, 24" x 24" By ERSwett
But sometimes,
what you love most just
has to stay home. In this case, I am
grateful that I gave my work to the Exhibits
Director at AVA and let her decide. The dress, even
though it seemed essential to the show for
me, just didn't fit and would have
been a distraction.
Picture
Bulbs, 2019 Photograph on Paper, 18" x 18" By ERSwett.
I am grateful
to this beautiful piece
of silk and lace for inviting me
to explore 
my own identity as a creative
person, not just with a camera,
but in life. The dress, as
companion, has 
been key.
Picture
Self-Portrait in The Dress...in process...before the maidenhair, poem and other alterations. By ERSwett

Compost Compositions at AVA Gallery!

10/24/2019

 
Picture
Selfie before people arrive.
Pinch me. Is it true?
Is 5 year's worth of work
really assembled in a real art gallery
for others to see?

Picture
The Opening, October 11. Photograph by Shiela C. Swett
It must be,
because people
showed up to celebrate
the launch, my
'coming'
out...

Picture
Artifacts from Waste & Our Material World Front Porch Conversation, Oct. 22.
And people
gathered again this
past Tuesday for a conversation
about Waste & Our Material World with
Marc Morgan, Director of the Lebanon, NH Solid
Waste Facility. I love how what began
as an isolated exploration of my
backyard compost has 
connected me to 
so many cool
people.

Picture
Talking with Charles Umpleby at the Opening. Photograph by Shiela C. Swett
Like
​the Umpleby's,
who run Umpleby's Cafe & 
Bakery in Hanover, NH - - I get all
my coffee grinds and other
large masses of cool
vegetables from 
them.
Picture
Are these degrees real? Photograph by Shiela C. Swett
Or all
those strangers
I meet at various events
who wonder at my composted
degrees and share their own stories about
celebrating the past while also
re-imagining the
future.
Picture
The Colors of Muscles. Photograph by Shiela C. Swett
It's magical
when a vision becomes
reality - - when showing up to
something seemingly mundane, like my 
compost bin, could inspire not just
me, but also all those who
come in contact with
this work. Who
knew?

Picture
8 x 8 Cash & Carry Compost Compositions.
Please come
share the joy and
experience the wonder 
that is our waste at my artist's
talk next Friday, November 1. It will be
at AVA Gallery at 5pm
.
Oh, and it's also my
birthday and I was thinking how great
it would be to share it with others
who care about all this
stuff. See you then
and there!

Corn Husks & Gratitude

10/11/2019

 
Picture
Corn Husks & Red Onions, 2018 Photo by ERSwett
What is it
about corn husks,
besides their enticing shade of
light green, fanlike spread on the pile,
and their capacity to
​protect?
Picture
Corn Cobs & Shreds, 2019 Photo by ERSwett
For me, it is
much more than the
reassuring taste of what they contain.
It has to do with their history, and the fact that corn
was originally a gift from the indigenous people who lived in
New England to my people, who showed up
500 years ago, unannounced and
unprepared. The results
were not pretty.
Picture
Grilled Corn Husks, 2017 Photo by ERSwett
I am deeply 
grateful for the gift
of corn then and now. Though
today it has a different purpose, perhaps,
inspiring a new point of view on the conversations
that gift started centuries ago. Who has the
right to what land and for what
purpose? And who is 
going to care
​for it?
Picture
Dried Corn Husks, 2018 Photo by ERSwett
It is an honor
that later today I will
be among friends new and old,
celebrating these Compost  Compositions.
They are at once framed compositions of color, shape
and texture as well as narratives about what it
means to live in our world today - - the 
beauty and the mess of it all. Some
days it feels more beautiful
​than others.
Picture
Dryer Lint, 2019 Photo by ERSwett
Today,
I choose to see
the beauty of what is,
not just in the compost pile,
but in my life. Please come see the
show at AVA Gallery.
​It's really cool.
Picture
And also, please
take a moment this weekend
to express gratitude for all those before
us who made our current
harvests ​possible.
    Picture
    Lyn Swett Miller
    ​
    reframing the narrative, one day, one image at a time
    Picture
    compost re-imagined
     Let's ReFrame: By Degrees
    A place where photographer Lyn Swett Miller considers wonder, joy and transformation in a complex world.

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