I was honored to be paired with the incredible artist Babs Reingold as part of the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist program. I don’t think I could have hand-picked a better fit for me in terms of where I am in my life and the direction of my current work.
Babs has been a tremendous resource and support for me throughout this period, particularly in navigating the special considerations involved with installation work and the challenges that arise. This year has been a crash-course of learning and I’ve experienced a gamut of situations between all the shows I’ve been involved with. I am so grateful to have had Babs to consult with on so many different topics that I could not have predicted. It’s been invaluable.
Beyond the grant, I look forward to having her in my network of artists and friends. I’m certain I will continue to seek her guidance as I enter new realms of my career.
For this blog, I’m not going to go into Bab’s bio or her impressive and extensive career, because her professional website does a much better job of that than I can do. You should definitely go to her site (click here) to read about her creative process and subject matter , and to examine her incredible portfolio, but I’m going to attach a few of my favorites below, and end with that.
She currently has work in the group show, “Stitched + Dyed” at the Dunedin Fine Art Center, on exhibit through August 13, 2023, including this 2D piece:
Rust, tea, embroidery thread, cheesecloth, encaustic, and color pencil
on paper on modeling paste on wood panel, rusted steel, plexiglass, lag screws.
30 x 30 x 2 inches. Babs Reingold
When I visited Bab’s studio in February, I got to see part of the “Hair Nest” series, including the three pieces pictured below. It’s hard to appreciate the scale, the delicate sensitivity of the hand work and the mastery of craft these pieces are without seeing them in person (true for all her work).
Babs words on her “Hair Nest” series:
“Hair Nest fuses my themes — beauty and the environment — into one. The series of 10 works incorporates 10 years of my hair loss. Each contains (1) a seven-foot-high drawing of a tree part; (2) cast or fabricated 3-D branch or actual branch projecting from the drawing or (3) nestling at the base of the drawing in a field of stones and other materials. The fabricated branches are constructed of glass, wax, silk organza or paper. Each work contains (4) a nest constructed from a year of my daily hair loss, either nestling in a branch or fallen to the base.
Scientists record twenty-two benefits of a tree, encompassing air quality, climate change, erosion, and food as well as numerous other comforts. Tree markings —scars and burns — and tree-ring dating provide yearly climate history. The markings speak of an existence affected by elements beyond their control — drought, fire, disease and of course, humans. Yet, they endure.
It is hardly a reach to blend tree drawings and limb sculptures with my signature component — human hair. Hair contains our complete DNA and lives beyond death. The perseverance of trees, the permanency of hair. These concepts inspire the work and carry it forward.”
…..and more of my favorites
The Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo NY, September 2016 – February 2017. Babs Reingold
Silk organza, cotton organza, yarn, thread, graphite on panel, wood stumps and branches, old pails, upcycled cast paper bricks from junk mail and old files, drawings on paper and panel. About 32 x 26 feet. Babs Reingold
