There is more to say about the ways that 2307 Chester has influenced my art and my thought than I could hope to fit into this artist statement… For me, The Last Exhibition is a bittersweet commemoration of the many experiences of art, conversations about art, and contemplations of art that have taken place in this beloved space.
The two Reveries presented here are contemplations of the world as experienced through the camera lens, and they are also evidence of my exploration of the potential of Matter as carrier of Image… Here, I have been inspired by the writings of Gaston Bachelard, the French phenomenologist philosopher who invites us to enter the spaces and moments of our lives imaginally, and to engage with the material world as dreamers and poets. I am deeply grateful to Art Gallery Director Robert Thurmer for introducing me to this profound thinker and dreamer of Matter…
I began my studies of art at Cleveland State University as a maker of vessels in the old Mather garage where the ceramics program was once housed. In Embracing the Wind Horse, a collaborative work with the French artist Nathanael Archer, my hand becomes the vessel–a conduit for a Tibetan Buddhist drala (or blessing). Nathanael, who calligraphed the drala in his elegant hand, offers this translation:
In order to join heaven and earth / may the ultimate, unchanging warrior / always protect you.
May you have long life, / freedom from sickness, / and glory.
May your primordial / confidence always flourish.
May the virtuous mark / of excellent wind horse / always be uplifted.
May it be so.
Jeanne Figueira Grossetti
reveries, 2011
embracing the wind horse, 2007
