If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you I am here to live out loud Emile Zola 18″x18’x3′
I’m feisty and I don’t take instruction well. In my Ramapo College, Judith Peck spring sculpture class, we were supposed to make a “head” out of clay. I’m 69 years old – I don’t have a huge lifetime in front of me to experiment with what I want to say – this is all I got, this is it. And I wanted to create the image I have had rolling around in my head. So I made the ear, eye and curvy shapes of clay, on a plastic covered square of plywood, photographed it, fussed with color in Paint and Photoshop and finally got what I had in my head. Damn, but I am having fun!!!
Cotton-polyester blend, cotton, metallic thread and floss, cotton thread and floss, metallic ribbon 10.5”x10.5”
Inspiration: Alexander Calder’s Circus
I have loved the work of Alexander Calder since I was ten years old. When I have seen films of him performing his circus, it has always elicited an almost-giddy response. This piece was originally created when I was thinking about the similar emotional reaction I have to being around my husband, of thirty plus years, Mark.
After caring for my 89 year old mother, who was beginning to develop dementia, I reflected on how all of us are finally left with just our bones among the bugs.
Silk, cotton-polyester blend, metallic thread and floss 12.75”x12.5”
When I first drew this as a study, I had been reflecting on a lecture I had heard about Ganesha, the one who removes obstacles and the God of new beginnings. As one sometimes takes the bits and pieces of what’s in the refrigerator and makes soup, this was a reflection on the bits and pieces of a recent year, including having been mostly paralyzed, and having had cancer treatments. The center reflects the “dark night of the soul” from which I was recovering, while the gold is the healing process throughout and surrounding my life.
Cotton, cotton-polyester blend, cotton thread and floss, cotton-polyester thread and floss, metallic thread and floss 20.5”x9”
I drew this when my shoulders were mostly paralyzed and I could not move more than a few inches. As a result, the original was only a few inches high, rigid and filled with the tension and stress of my infirmity. The final, fabric version was transformed into a totem of my improving health after I recovered. Through this journey, I felt like I was reaching out to the spirit world to help me survive and release me from my paralysis.
Cotton-denim, cotton-polyester blend, silk, cotton thread and floss, cotton-polyester thread and floss, metallic thread and floss 11”x11.25”
After an evening spent with people who are very different from me and who have contrasting expectations of themselves – and of me – I created this piece in my exasperation and my desire for acceptance.
Silk, linen, cotton, cotton thread and floss, cotton-polyester thread and floss, metallic thread and floss 12.5”x11.75”
I finally am a sybarite: I want all of my senses turned on, tuned up, fed, and watered as often as possible. The various sections of the piece represent my different senses, lit up and happily responding to the universe into which I have been born. I am so happy I was born a synesthete!!!
Living Out Loud: The Art of Geri Hahn 