Artist Lecture with Adrienne Outlaw

On Tuesday, January 17^th, I attended a power point presentation and lecture given by Adrienne Outlaw.  She is one of the artists featured in the TAKE CARE: Biomedical Ethics in the 21^st Century exhibit currently on display in the Trahern gallery until February 4^th.

I was fascinated by the slides showing her artwork such as THE HUNT made from hair, glue and bed sheets.  This work was an instillation at the Nashville Public Library.  This work revealed both physical and emotional feelings of humans.  She told of how volunteers came to model for this project and interacted with each other while they were frozen in their positions to support the bed sheets while the glue dried.

VESSELS was another of her artworks that she showed.  She said there were over 200 volunteers who helped in this project.  Each person was given mesh and wire with directions to make a part of the project.  It looked like small cups on a background of mesh wire.  The pieces were put together much like a quilt.  People were urged to leave messages on paper in the cups about someone they helped or someone who had helped them.  Much like a prayer wall where people who leave prayers for whatever reason.

She also talked about a piece called SHELTER.  She learned to weld in order to create this 535 pound work of art.  This piece took over six years to complete.  Three hundred volunteers and 22 interns worked on this project and logged 10,000 hours.  It had 12 ribs with a special nylon stretched over the frame.  This piece was installed in Memphis, TN.

A lot of her art work is interactive with the viewer.  For example, THE HUNT was hung from the ceiling and when people walked by the pieces would move from the motion sensors implanted in each hanging cocoon type piece formed over a live body.  She said that interesting to stand off and watch how differently people reacted to the moving parts of the display.

I was also interested to find out that she started a contemporary art space supporting artists, curators and writers in Nashville called the SEED SPACE.

Adrienne left time for questions and she said she was a big fan of stupid questions.  I don’t think there were any stupid questions, but interested to hear her business and mentor comments.  She accepts interns in her studio and advised interns with portfolio presentations and resumes.

I wondered how this idea of a show came about.  I would not think to put medical issues and art together.  I think her husband is in the medical field and that is how she started thinking about the connection.

For the exhibit now on display in the Trahern gallery, Adrienne contacted other female artists to create something to depict a medical issue in an art form.  Adrienne’s contribution is very technical in nature as her display seems to invite the viewer to interact with her art to look inside breast like cone shapes.  There are little movies running inside each object in her section of the display that deal with advancing biotechnical issues.

As a mother, I get the sock monkeys display by artist Libby Rowe.  Every mother of any age takes a chance with nature when she conceives a baby.  Genetics play a big part in what will combine to make another human being, but how will future medical studies play a part in this human production.

As a textile artist, I took a close look at the beaded and embroidered pieces by Lindsay Orbermeyer.  There were a lot of hours put into this art work that hinted a mental disorder.  The two pictures are titled SHADOWS SERIES.  An asymmetrical two piece work shows to me two persons in one body.

During the presentation lecture, I sat next to the artists Sher Fick who made the prescription bottles.  The bottles were covered in a quilted fashion with scraps of fabric that were fussy cut to bring out some favorite fabrics like Holly Hobby.  There was even one with sock monkeys on it.  Her display touched on the drugs we take.  I was excited to talk with her after the lecture and found out her studio is just down the road in Springhill and although she does not have any interns she does allow tours of her studio and likes to be invited to tea.  I told her I loved tea and would be giving her a call in the near future.