Artist Talk: Brianna McCarthy

Check out the premiere episode of our web series "Artist Talk" with Brianna McCarthy. The Trinidadian artist talks about her creative process and her latest piece, Big Fish.

the art of walking

I am reading Rebecca Solnit's "Wanderlust" and it has inspired me to get out of my head and really be with myself. Walking was something that I never really considered before. The repetition of motion coupled with the solace and surprising freedom that I have experienced since I have taken it up is really a pure joy. She writes so intricately weaving histories of walkers, paths, gardens, aristocrats, philosophers and of course experience, it makes me in many ways jealous. Her share knowledge is intimidating, alarming and of course beyond all of that inspirational.

Just as I was beginning to welcome the idea of some time alone it was cut short, it is fine though as I have this whole world to explore now that I am willing and the thought of doing it alone which was once a scary thought, now I welcome. Through the drizzle in Chelsea I traversed through many galleries most of which were new to me, I say this with a lot of shame as I should have gotten out a lot more last year. I didn't.

13. That is about 7 more than planned and tonight as I lay in bed another prayer ascends. Objects, Installations, Photographs, Video, Painting and writing in excess. Not the bloated type of excess but the kind where it begins to feel like a soft warm place. My favorites from the day Nazaket Ekici's 8 channel video Installation "Kopfsonate" @ Claire Oliver Gallery. The thing that stuck me about this was the audio and how it synced with the body to create so many questions for me, questions about tempo, perspective, the function of repetition, the body as subject and object. I love the way it was installed uncomplicated and clean.

Another was Maysey Craddock "Borderland" the vintage photographs with gouache that managed to fill in space and time, updating the idea of the found archive. The way they were installed was what i was most interested in, and the space around each of them, how the colors complimented but also gave direction on how to fill in your personal story into each of these photographs. It functioned.

The reason I really wanted and itched to go to Chelsea was to see Simen Johan's "Until the Kingdom Comes". Stepping into a gallery with preconcieved notions is always something that i am aware of. Needless to say the share size of the prints was astonishing and I couldn't help but read into all of them as sublime and oddly religious. I think the theme of honoring and respecting nature and merging it between real and unreal is really hard. A challenge, he pulls it off in this really weird way, I am not the type of person to sit down and judge quality of prints

etc but standing next to the images I felt dwarfed, humbled and honored to be a part of this world. I was sad that there was only one sculptural piece present, it was what i was drawn to more than anything. It was intricate and had many treasures running through this collection of (cock fowl) feathers: beetles, eggs, smaller birds, larger ones, dead embryos. I wanted to reach into it and dig around and smell it all.

Other notable mentions were Kara Walker and Sikkema Jenkins her video piece is a must see and Peter Hujar @ Matthew Marks mostly his early works. By the time I was through four hours had passed and I was famished, so I had to skip Maya Lin. I took myself out for a late late lunch then saw Inglorious Basterds by far my favorite QT movie ever. I heart Hans Landa & Aldo, it is all about the dialogue and the awkward laugh out loud (read snort) humor. I found it blisteringly funny, vicious and hopefully romantic rewriting history and all.

I also saw my first dead body in New York today, car accident @ 40th and 8th Avenue, the street was littered with police and shocked faces. I tried not to look, I tried really really hard not to look, but the stains on the white got to me.

a trek

This morning I forced myself to raise at an ungodly hour and watched the waning moon get lost as the sun rose. I trekked down to Moonhole via speed boat with a great friend of mine who has signed up to be a guinea pig for a short experimental video that is currently in production through Tuesday. I don't think she or anyone understands what they are in for, mostly me. I was so afraid of coming home and sitting on my ass and doing nothing, thankfully a few kind souls are still willing to extend themselves beyond belief. I am giving myself these timelines and trusting my body and hoping that something great will come out of these projects, successes are tied closely to failure right now in my life and I have had some pretty massive ups and downs, turning points and burnt some bridges that needed to go up in flames. So i hope I at least learn a lesson or two, actually if that is my goal then i have a long way to go with trusting and understanding how a little patience and persistence really does make things run so much smoother. I am by nature very nervous, anxious and short fused. And after this year in NYC I need to find a way to control it as I loose it a lot, most people I come across in the academic world look at me and say two words, trust and confidence. I also blindly casted my captain/lover/father /masculine energy by the side of the road this morning, he is wild, they call him Bushman. So far my ass is killing me and i napped like a baby from 1-3:30 pm, tomorrow I will collect via boat- Ticky, a tripod, and a cow foot.