olek

Olek Solo Show Opening Today in London!

| Betsy

The show includes real emails and texts Olek has received, “immortalising intimate details of her past relationships,”” according to the Village Voice blog Runnin Scared.

The article, which you can read entirely here features an interview with Olek:

…”Crochet came to me as a result of being totally broke,” she continues. “I had to make a costume in NYC and I had no cash for a sewing machine. I used any materials I could possible find…I even cut my sheets into strips to make pieces. Being resourceful is in my blood as you can see. Crochet is for poor people…that’s why you can find it in almost any culture across the globe. I am just a tiny spider who walked at night in East London collecting items soon to be transformed into crocheted pieces.”

The show, I do not expect to be a mother but I do expect to die alone, will be open in Tony’s Gallery from January 27 – March 23.


Ebb and Flow.

| Betsy

In case you missed it… PBS is doing an amazing interactive series right now, PBS Arts, which includes an online component of videos. The latest features interviews with two of my favorite makers, Olek and Swoon.

In the latest “Off Book” feature, PBS explores the work of two unique artists who use the streets as their canvas: Olek, who wraps everyday objects (and even people) in layers of colorful crochet, and Swoon, who pastes large-scale paper drawings on peeling city walls and in public spaces. Equally at home in museums and galleries, both artists create installations that challenge the formats of traditional art spaces. With powerful layers of meaning, beautiful aesthetics, and unique media, these two prolific creators are pushing the boundaries of contemporary art.

Oh, and thanks so much for the super kind emails, comments and Tweets to my last two posts. They have not gone unnoticed, and have warmed my heart lately at a time when it needs a little extra warming. Just got one of the phone calls I’ve been expecting, which was only joyous as it signals the end of someone I’ll miss dearly’s pain. And currently the screensaver on my phone is my teeny tiny little niece smiling, ever reminding me that things ebb and flow, from happy to sad to happy again. As they will always.






Hi, Hey, Hello, 2011.

| Betsy

Here’s to the new year and all the dreams and adventures and love it may bring. As for 2010 parting, few things could be more fitting that this piece above.


Why this piece, you ask?

Because it depicts the juxtaposition of rough, activated and rugged (bull) vs warm, welcoming and beautiful (crochet) and how well they can go together. As those are the two poles we circumnavigate continuously in our daily lives, in between the good stuff and the bad stuff, I really like that it appeared on Wall St right at the tail end of a rough year. While this particular installation only lasted a scant two hours, this image remains as a testament to an artist’s vision, as she expertly combines aesthetics and concept. Of her work, Olek (born Agata Olek) writes,

It was truly a year of guerrilla actions that opened a new path in my crocheted investigations. I started it with a bike and ended up with the Charging Bull as a Christmas gift to NYC and a tribute to the sculptor of the bull, Arturo di Modica,* who in another guerrilla act, placed the bull on Wall Street in Christmas of 1987 as a symbol of the “strength and power of the American people” following the 1987 Stock Market crash.

This crocheted cover represents my best wishes to all of us. It will be a great, prosperous year with many wonderful surprises!!!

For more on Olek, check out her website, artist statement and be sure to check out her work, especially the Sculptures section for more amazing crocheted and fiber work.


So here’s to 2011, and here’s to new work, new ideas, new collaborations and new joy in this new year! And like di Modica and Olak, keep in mind that creativity and its creations are a gift, for both the maker and the viewer.



As makers we’re meant to let our ideas and whims break through into actual visual manifestations, we’re meant to put forth the work we envision in the shower, in a conversation, in dreams, everywhere we look. Maybe some projects falter and crack, but if you look carefully enough, they always light the path to an even bolder and more thought out project, the original thought was just the starting block.


As viewers, we’re meant to not only appreciate the time and effort that has gone into the making, we’re also meant to see these creations as manifestations of our own goals, in whatever shape they might evolve. Like the maker (creator, artist, crafter, whatevs), as viewers we are also here to create and make something beautiful, just perhaps not visually. Creativity, while at times, goofy, melancholy, engaging, is at its root, transformative, freeing and bold sparking revolutions both inside and outside of ourselves.



*For more on Arturo di Modica, check out his website. For more information on his statue, Charging Bull, go check out the Charging Bull Wikipedia page. Most interesting perhaps, is the original NYT story written the day after the bull’s installation on Wall Street in 1989.

[For more about the second photo, it’s by Flickr user Fotologic. About this photo she writes, “A still from a stop frame animation I made with my 8 year old son today. The full quotation from Henri Bergson reads: “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating.”]

And for extra credit and two gold stars, go learn more about Henri Bergson, k?