Here are some images from my studio at my current residency at SÍM, where I have been working on drawings which I plan to incorporate into a series of  installations with reflected light.* Briefly, the drawings engage both the idea of the souvenir (those objects we take away to commemorate an experience of significance: stones, sea glass, snippets from photographs etc.) along with the idea of the indicator (those markers we leave behind in order to communicate something, sometimes just a gesture of our passing presence: stone cairns, spray painted directives, gratified tags). I think of the vertically stacked wet-into-wet vaguely circular forms–into and against which the more detailed elements are drawn–as cairns themselves. I find many of the objects and images depicted while running and exploring Reykjavík, but many of them come from other places (Berlin) and instances as well.

I’m most interested in the ways in which these drawings on paper, their silver-leafed cut-outs, the reflective surfaces and the light can all interact and create a larger conversation between object and atmosphere, between the taken and the left. As humans generally conflate places, experiences, even dreams in our memories, with this installation I’m hoping to create a space in which such jumbled significance is a felt presence. I’m looking forward to installing what I have so far in the residents’ upcoming exhibition Fault Lines using the spotlights in the gallery at the SÍM House.

* I’m revisiting this fortuitous phenomenon from my solo exhibition Will Have Been in at the University of Nevada, Reno in November 2012.

My good friend Fiona Short traveled from New Zealand via Glasgow where she is currently based to spend two and a half weeks with us preparing for our upcoming two-person show To Arrive Where We Started at 2739Edwin in Hamtramck in Detroit. We’ve been enjoying working steadily in the studio together in anticipation of the show.

To Arrive Where We Started | Amy Sacksteder and Fiona Short

18 August – 15 September 2012

Exhibition Public Reception: Saturday August 18 from 7 to 10pm 

Regular Hours: 1pm – 5pm Saturday. Other hours by appointment

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New drawing:

then and then | 30″ x 22″ | gouache, ink, evaporated glacial water, and collage on paper | 2012

also on website

new drawing:

you do not me
ink, gouache and correction tape on collaged paper
22″ x 30″
2011

For an exhibition centering around Borges’ “The Library of Babel” coming up at the UM Residential College Art Gallery, curated by Jason Wright. Opening Friday night, December 2, 5-7 p.m.

Mark, my brother, and I visited my parents in their new home in Mason City, Iowa for Thanksgiving this year. As it turns out, with all of the activity that surrounded Island, I didn’t have much time to dedicate to a new drawing I’m making for an upcoming show surrounding Borges’ “The Library of Babel,” so I found myself packing up my studio and in-progress piece so as to work on it at their house over break.

me and my dad, working away

My folks are really hospitable, and allowed me to abscond with several lamps and bring a folding table upstairs to set up a makeshift studio in their living room so I would be in the middle of the familial action while getting work done. I’m happy to say, that I think I finished it tonight. Now to get it aboard two planes and framed by install on Monday.

I have work (Net 1) in the upcoming group exhibition Other Possible Titles coming up at Grizzly Grizzly in Philly.

Here’s text from the press release:
October 18, 2011

Grizzly Grizzly is pleased to present our inaugural call for entries, ‘Other Possible Titles,’ a survey of
contemporary art juried by the members of the collective. The thirty-five artworks selected — culled
from nearly 250 submissions — represent the wide range of artistic strength and thoughtfulness we
witnessed from our artistic peers throughout the process.

By far our largest exhibition to date, ‘Other Possible Titles’ will utilize the entirely of the gallery
and spill out into the adjoining floor. Although incredibly divergent in media, the work on a whole
demonstrates a particular intelligence and awareness of material and play within contemporary
practices – whether it be through installation, photography, sculpture, video, or painting and drawing.
Selected artist locations range from Philadelphia to New York, Ypsilanti to Los Angeles, Barcelona to
Ireland.

Throughout the duration of the exhibition, Grizzly Grizzly will encourage visitors to vote on their
favorite work. The artist receiving the most votes will receive a solo exhibition in the 2012 gallery
season.

Our hope with this exhibition is to extend the boundaries of the call for entries group exhibition
through risk and audience engagement. Grizzly member and exhibition programmer, Jacque Liu,
states that, “Our gallery is a meeting-ground for dialogue. We know that our viewers see vast amounts
of art — by giving them the ability to determine a future show, we hope to leverage their knowledge,
experience and passion to help us define our audience and in turn, to create a deeper and more
meaningful relationship to the work.”

Included artists are:
Aggtelek, Amy Sacksteder, Ana Galan, Analia Zalazar, Anders Johnson, Andrea Mcginty, Angie Zielinski,
Areca Roe, Ben Will, Benjamin Farnack, Caitlin Lennon, Carly Glovinski, Christina Day, Christine
McCauley, Dana Lok, Dave Kim, David Welch, Dennis Ritter, Eimearjean McCormack, Joanna Platt,
John Jodzio, Liz Davenport, Matt Brett, Michael Ohgren, Olja Stipanovic, Peter Morgan, Rachelle
Beaudoin, Run Shayo, Samantha Mitchell, Scott Giblin, Shelby Donnelly, Stephanie Norberg, Trevor
Amery, Wendy Wolf, Yoorim Park

For further inquiries or to arrange an interview, please contact cindystocktonmoore@gmail.com

“Other Possible Titles”
November 4 – November 263, 2011
First Friday Opening, November 4th, 6-10PM
Grizzly Grizzly, 319 North 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA,
www.grizzlygrizzly.com
Hours: Saturday and Sundays, 2-6PM

Grizzly Grizzly is a project space in Philadelphia, PA. Since 2009, Grizzly Grizzly has programmed monthly
exhibitions, screenings and performances. The gallery is currently under the direction of artists Mike
Ellyson, Jacque Liu, Dennis Matthews, Matthew Price, Ruth Scott, Mary Smull, Cindy Stockton-Moore and Josh Weiss.

new drawing:

Net 2
gouache, ink, collage and grass stain on paper
18″ x 24″
2011

Also on on website.

Net 1
ink, gouache, blue tape and collage on paper
18″ x 24″
2005 and 2011

Land Blindness (for R. Smithson)
ink, gouache, salt, gold leaf and correction tape on paper (not pictured: accompanying rock from the site of Spiral Jetty)
drawing 30″ x 22″, installation dimensions variable
2011