WITH TIME ON HER SIDE: THE UNIQUE ART OF DONI SILVER SIMONS -- We have to admit it: we at Studio
of Style met Los Angeles artist Doni
Silver Simons before we ‘met’ her work – and we knew immediately that
something truly unique was in store for us if Simons’ gentle yet profound
nature was to be found in it. And sure enough, this acclaimed artist with her equally profound, thoughtful art has made her mark in the art world by doing exactly
that: mark-making. Markings – a series of 4 vertical and one cross-hatched line
– have become Simons’ signature and a visual tally of the passage of time. The
nearly obsessive need to mark this passage of time is at the core of all her
works, be they painting or performance. If the marks are not made directly on the canvas, then they appear as
strands pulled from a canvas. Los Angeles area gallery-goers will have an opportunity to
see not one, but two Simons exhibits in November: Caesura at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica which opens November 8th; and Alchemy
at the Projects Room at Liz’s Loft in Los Angeles (see Simons’ website for more info on both the
show schedules and more about her art).
For her performance in Alchemy which opens November 10th,
Simons will make the first mark and invite each visitor to the gallery to add a
single mark on a long narrow paper scroll as they walk around three sides of
the project space – and a video will also record their hand and the sound of
the mark. Periodically, Simons will visit the gallery to continue marking the
same way for two months – from November 10th to the
closing on January 8th. So
here’s an opportunity for you – our stylish reader – to make your mark in the art world as well! In this exclusive interview with Simons, Studio of Style asked the artist to tell
us more about the hows and whys of her very intriguing style of art.
Studio of Style: You call yourself a
'mark-maker' and have always considered yourself as such. When did you
first realize this fascination and what spurred it?
Doni Silver Simons: I
always drew, even as a young child. However, the first time I thought of myself
as a mark-marker was when I was applying to graduate school and I realized that
I wanted to study drawing as a finished product. Marking -- the act of drawing
and its simplicity -- was where I resonated. It seems that I am always in
search of essence -- and that search is realized in the unification of "writing" and drawing lines.
Studio of Style: What
first step as an artist did you take as a mark-maker?
Simons:
In the early '70s I started to document my life through marking. I did
my first marked journal in those years, abandoning writing in favor of
vertical parallel lines. I marked a journal that consisted of large sheets
of graph paper with one vertical line per grid. The lines were drawn in
graphite. I "wrote" (marked) intuitively
each day just as one would enter their thoughts and experiences into a personal
journal. The journal was shown in part at the Feigenson-Rosenstein Gallery in Detroit in 1975. A page of that journal
is in the Lila and Gil Silverman collection.
Studio of Style: As one
who observes the passage of time in its many forms as you create your work,
what goes through your mind during the creation process?
Simons: There are
various levels of concentration that I go through when I'm marking or
pulling strands of fiber. On the most successful days, I'm propelled on a
pathway that pulls me into a very quiet space, a meditation of sorts -- a place
of stillness and clarity that allows me to imbue the marks with
meaning.
Studio of Style: What is
the significance of the separation of fibers in your canvas works; the pulling
apart of the cloth threads?
Simons: The separation
of the fabric is simply the reverse of mark-making. The unraveling is done
in an effort to understand or arrive at essence. The strand-pulling and the
accumulation of strands on the floor echo my drawings.
Studio of Style: Your
color palette leans toward the natural, the muted, the darker edge of the
spectrum -- how do these color choices reflect your artistic POV?
Simons: Color is crucial to my work, often representing the harmonics of
the piece. I have been known to fall in love with certain colors and employ
those hues throughout a season or a body of work. Every once in a while a
piece will assert itself and I’ll do something quite bright or colorful.
The work tells me what to do -- I simply follow directions.
Studio of Style: Albert Einstein concluded in his later years that
the past, present and future all exist simultaneously. Have you pondered this
and/or subscribe to this -- or any other scientific belief? Or are such
scientific beliefs separate from your work and your beliefs.
Simons: I believe
that time is a vertical, cylindrical spiral and as such, the past, present and future line up vertically and can
be accessed vertically. So, the answer to your question is "yes," I have thought about this quite a bit and I do think that all time exists simultaneously and is available.
Studio of Style: As a mark-maker, what aspect (or aspects) of time do
you feel that we (as viewers or as a society) can learn from -- or have we
changed the natural aspects of time itself by our unstoppable acceleration into
technology that seems to disregard perhaps the human or natural aspects of time?
Simons: The
attribute itself of making a mark requires
time. Rhythms are attained, time passes, and patterns
emerge. Patterns speak to people. I, the maker, have my own rhythm and
the observer comes to my work with his/hers. In the act of
observation the viewer identifies his/her own rhythm. This variation that
defines differences in individuals and similarities in groups. Time and marking,
inherent in this situation, bind us together. Technology -- I use it, I love it. It is simply another tool.
The work in my current and
upcoming exhibitions explores time, rhythm, pattern and marking. In Caesura,
a group exhibition opening November 8th at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa
Monica, I will be presenting a three-dimensional work entitled Tidal, which incorporates the
tide schedule to produce the rhythm of the work. In Alchemy opening
November 10th in the Projects Room at The Loft at Liz's in Los
Angeles, I will present a two-month interactive
piece called Whisper Pitch. This drawing will encourage the
gallery visitors to participate in the creation of the piece by applying a
single line to the work that will weave itself into the lines I've made. This
is a reprise of a performative drawing that I made in the ‘70s. It explores the
value of community and communication, the "alchemy" between an artist and her audience. In March 2013, the
Shulamit Gallery in Venice, California will
be presenting my work as its first solo exhibition. The show will feature the
work I've done on Rumpelstiltskin entitled Homage to a Fairy Tale.
Images courtesy the artist
