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I often think about the porous boundaries between life and art. Artists experience this when struggles in life present obstacles to their practice but then end up adding depth and meaning to the work.  Those of us who love art find that it can help and even heal us.  A long time ago I was overcome  by the grief of personal loss when a roomful of Cezanne’s paintings began to bring me back to life.


Such porous boundaries animate a remarkable exhibition I recently saw at the University of Michigan’s Stamps Gallery (part of the School of Art & Design).  “Breath, fragment, return,” by the artist Marianetta Porter, asks us to look at discarded or overlooked objects from the past in order to understand people and events that were invisible. 


Porter creates art out of ordinary objects: clothespins, ironing boards, and tea towels.  Her art  continues the legacy of Duchamp’s famous readymades, yet feels fresh and  original. While Duchamp took ordinary objects and declared them to be art, Porter elevates such objects  to honor the history of domestic work done by black women.  Her series of letterpress prints documents the Atlanta Washerwomens’ strike in 1881.  She takes these domestic objects, frames them thoughtfully, and elevates them into quiet and powerful political statements. 


Porter’s work reminds us that sources of inspiration are all around us. We can find art everywhere, both inside the artist and out in the world. Her genius is to help us see what we might otherwise ignore, as we find new meaning in the simplest things. 


So think about it.  How do porous boundaries between life and art show up in your studio practice?