“The past has no power over the present moment.” -Eckhart Tolle
We live in now. No matter the moment, it is now. What occurred before has gone and what has yet to be lies ahead. However you slice your time, however you consider your predicament or circumstance, you stand at the center of now. All-consuming, inescapable now – a moment that never ends, toppling on itself incessantly, replacing itself over and over into infinity.
Carole Silverstein joined us in late December 2021 as she was closing a solo show. Titled She Wears Her Potency as Ornaments (the Garden), the exhibition consisted of art made during lockdown. Her previous show closed two weeks early when things locked down, and during that time Silverstein felt a lot of despair and anxiety. This led her to create a series of small drawings that evolved and became the body of work for her exhibition. Neighborhood walks, a crucial part of her well-being during this time, served as considerable inspiration for these works. To hear more about that series/exhibition as well as Silverstein’s other work, listen to the complete interview.
Sharon Butler spoke to us in January 2022. She says the pandemic gave her – and perhaps everyone in New York City – the opportunity to rethink their assumptions about how they live and think more creatively. During that time, Butler began trading paintings with other artists through the mail. Without the pressure to produce art for exhibition, she found time to take long walks and observe the city in a way she’d never seen before. She was able to complete quite a lot of paintings and hold an exhibition “post-election and pre-vaccination.” To hear more about this show, her work and more, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:
The time is now.
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Carole Silverstein discussed two books, Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Deadlines:
Fundación Botín invites international artists to apply for fine arts grants intended to promote and support those in need of resources to carry out research or training. This application is open to artists of any nationality, but please note: “One of these grants will be given in priority to Spanish artists or residents at least five years prior to the application to this grant, under the age of 30 who have a concrete project of relocating abroad to carry out their project (training, research and production).” For more information and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is May 6.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World.