The Road Home
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 2 days ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Our migration theme has found new unexpected tangents this week. In advanced studio we thought about movement in nature, and earthworks by Robert Smithson, while in person we found inspiration in the thread drawings of Do Ho Suh.
ART YARD Art Matters in the school at PS 17 were drawing shoes, landscape painting & making jazz inspired collage. P.S. 6 began the new cycle Home: Here, There, Everywhere.
We also have some other art news and an invitation to a panel talk tonight!
On Monday, AYB teaching artist Fatima Traore led a lesson titled Stillness in Motion: Nature Never Stands Still.
Fatima writes: “The session explored how nature holds memory through visible evidence of time and change—such as tree rings, rock layers, erosion, and trapped air bubbles. I (Fatima) guided participants through a presentation examining how elements that may appear still are, in fact, records of ongoing movement and transformation. Drawing inspiration from works like Spiral Jetty, participants considered how natural forms can embody memory, migration, and the passage of time.
Throughout the lesson artists engaged with visual examples of natural patterns and artworks created using organic materials, which sparked thoughtful discussion and encouraged deeper reflection. They were then invited to create their own pieces capturing movement within stillness, using natural imagery and conceptual frameworks introduced during the session.
I demonstrated this approach through a layered painting of an elaborate tree ring composition, incorporating varied line weights, colors, and intricate patterns to suggest growth and the accumulation of time.
Responses reflected a wide range of interpretations and personal connections."
Karla drew inspiration from lunar movement, referencing photography of the moon and imagining perspectives from its far side.
Meridith documented a garden through a series of images, assembling them into a small booklet with a spiral motif on the cover inspired by Smithson’s work.
Meridith McNeal, Stillness in Motion
Adji explored the evolving nature of the female body, contrasting its constant transformation with a seemingly unchanging environment, and expressing pride in that change.
Flo created a memorial piece influenced by tree rings and found flowers, incorporating a lit candle and kinetic elements to evoke the passage of time and the movement of light and life.
Florian Kiniffo-Neven du Mont, Stillness in Motion
Leah reflected on her own life through the metaphor of water, emphasizing cycles of renewal and continuous motion.
Richie depicted the interior of a tree ring as a metaphor for years spent living in his home, connecting personal history with natural growth.
Cheyenne examined the internal structure of crystals, focusing on their layered formations and sense of hidden movement.
Aaron created a “message in a bottle” concept, symbolizing time, distance, and communication across space. Richie cleverly compared Aaron's work to Meridith's for the surprising use of bottles in the context of this session.
Georgia-Rae focused on an image of a sliced piece of okra, drawing connections between recurring natural patterns and fingerprints.
Marilyn used watercolor to illustrate overlapping bubbles, employing a painterly and intentional approach to layering and transparency.
The session concluded with a critique that was especially thoughtful and engaging. Participants offered diverse interpretations of one another’s work, demonstrating a strong grasp of the lesson’s themes and an ability to connect personal narratives with broader natural processes.
“In light of our Year of Migration theme”, writes AYB Teaching Artist Jules Lorenzo, “I have been on the hunt to discover “What does home mean to you?” within our AYB Community. Which is why for this week’s Advanced Studio in person at 180 Franklin Avenue, we revisited the works of Do Ho Suh.
Suh is a South Korean artist who works primarily in sculpture, installation, and drawing. Suh is well known for re-creating architectural structures and objects using fabric in what the artist describes as an "act of memorialization.” (Tate.org). While we initially focused on his fabric sculptures, we now turned our attention to his thread drawings.
Do Ho Suh, Going Home 2013, and Scaled Behaviour (HomeWithinHome_elevation_B_01) 2025
Suh explains about his process: “Cotton thread is embedded in handmade gelatine paper. Gelatine paper is actually used for embroidery and is designed to completely dissolve in water. ‘When paper is being made, it is wet and spongy. When the gelatine paper touches it, it mostly dissolves and leaves only the bits with the thread behind. We then rub the drawings gently to transfer the threads and help the fibres bind into the paper fibres.’” (Elephant.art)
“When I developed this technique I didn’t know I would feel this kind of freedom. It’s a very different process from making my installations.”- Do Ho Suh
The human figure often dominates in Suh’s work: his drawings are filled with abundant references to himself and others; some are kinds of self-portraits – what he calls, “a contemplation of myself” – but he is not only looking inward at himself, but also outward: his sense of inter-connectedness with others of familial relationships in the present but also the past and future. (Brigitte Boucher)
Do Ho Suh, Myselves 2013, and Self Portrait, 2023
“There’s a notion in sociology that I’ve always found helpful, ‘marginal man’, which describes the position of people who are displaced or who are immigrants in a society, who cannot be fully part of the mainstream, yet at the same time, no longer belong to where they came from.”- Do Ho Suh
For class work, participants were instructed to create their own depictions of home through the use of red yarn and water color on paper. These depictions can be of an item that reminds you of home, a self portrait/portrait of a family member, or even your home itself. There were many different and beautiful iterations of home that were created by the end of Tuesday’s session.
Dylan was one of the only artists to paint the yarn a different color in his work. He painted it black to help visually in his illustration of his family’s TV.
We had the pleasure of having BOTH Jacob Rath and Ed Rath in attendance for class this week. Ed crafted an almost surrealist chair (that drew comparisons to a llama from Breanna) next to a meticulously framed window. He also discussed a bit of history behind red lining in art, primarily red lined art work in ancient Egyptian tombs.
Ed Rath, The Road Home (My Window), and Jacob Rath, The Road Home (Laundry in Italy)
Jacob’s thread drawings were a callback to his time in Italy when he didn't have a dryer for his clothes. In the winter, shown on the right side of the page, the sky is more yellow and he would dry his clothes on a radiator inside his apartment. The left hand side depicts the warmer months of spring and summer when the sky is blue where he’d dry his clothes on a tree.
Kevin, Moonbear, Jazz and I (Jules) all created domestic scenes.
The Road Home by Kevin Anderson (Home), Moonbear (Bed), Jazz Guilet (Plants), and Jules Lorenzo (Couch).
Aaron, Cheyenne and Briana’s pieces were a bit more conceptual. Aaron didn't glue down his thread illustration of a balloon flowing freely in the air. It flowed freely on the page and he painted around it to help capture the technique of letting the yarn guide him in his work instead of trying to manipulate it himself.
Cheyenne illustrated her emotional and thoughtful self.
Briana created our only knotted string, only half glued down portrait of The Virgin Mary on an ethereal watercolor ground.
Ajani’s work was in reference to their cat that recently got an “interesting” haircut. In their words, “Her body is shaved but she still has a fluffy tail and boots with the fur!” They created a diptych piece representing their cat in two different perspectives.
Ajani Russell, The Road Home (Moonlight)
Delanny and Sebastian, depicted toy characters of significance.
Delanny Gomez, The Road Home (Peppa Pig) and Sebastian LeBossiere, The Road Home (Figurine from LA)
Additionally, Lilo was one of the few artists to create a food related piece. They had many memories of enjoying watermelon as a kid, which resonated a lot with the class since Jas particularly brought some in as a treat for us that evening. With delicate brush strokes they created almost feather like seeds of a watermelon and wove the bright red coloring of the fruit around it. The distressed yarn in their design was reminiscent of juice coming off the melon. Lilo also explained how they’ve taken up crocheting recently, and when their yarn splits it's usually a headache but now that same deconstruction of yarn was used as a positive tool for their work.
Ariel was one of the few artists who chose portraiture as her home element. She decided to make a portrait of her mother and said “She’s home to me,” (in reference to her mother’s womb) “Literally!”
Meridith crafted an homage to Suh’s Going Home drawing which depicts the house, spiraling staircase, and tiny figure walking in his piece. It was made as a miniature book to be placed inside the 180 Franklin Dollhouse for our upcoming showcases. Two pieces for the price of one!
Meridith McNeal, The Road Home
Evelyn and Jas’ works both drew comparisons to childhood entertainment such as Blues Clues and Dr. Suess. Evelyn’s piece was a view of their apartment from their couch, while Jas’ drawing depicted their garden. Both works also included plant life and looked as though the work was made by one continuous line of yarn.
Evelyn Beliveau, The Road Home, and Jasmine Pinturas, The Road Home
While my quest for “What does home mean to you?” continues, Do Ho Suh’s art as well as our classwork stands as a testament to how our homes are always carried with us. In our hearts, in our dreams, in how we see the world. Sometimes, you just need to know how to look at it instead of where to look for it.”
ART YARD Art Matters is back in action in the schools after spring break.
Teaching artist Eelyn Beliveau writes: “We are back at PS 17 after a week of Spring Break! Dennis and I (Evelyn) resumed the lessons we’d started before the break, with Nick stepping in to assist. Grade 4 continues their lesson on shoes and the gridding method, Grade 7 is working on perspective in acrylic paint, and Grades 1 and 2 are exploring jazz and collage inspired by the work of Romare Bearden.
This week, Grade 4 used Sharpies to add outlines and acrylic paint markers to add pops of color to the pencil-on-paper drawings they started last time. Each student began with a printout of a basic shoe design and a grid, working box-by-box to create a faithful drawing. They honed their observational skills using this centuries-old method, breaking down complicated forms into easier-to-grasp pieces. Then, they added personalized details to their designs. Some students had finished this step already and were ready to add bold black outlines and blocks of color, using the paint markers slowly and carefully to keep their artworks (and workstations) neat. We circulated through the room, helping out students who found the gridding method challenging. Students made great progress and are on track to finish and cut out their artworks next week.
Student at work, and shoe drawings
Grade 7 is refining their acrylic painting technique, after the crash-course they received for the Women’s History Month project. Before the break, students made preparatory drawings with pencils and rulers on canvas panels, following a linear perspective scheme as seen in Camille Corot’s A Lane through the Trees (ca. 1870-73).
They started with a horizon line and a vanishing point to which the two edges of a road recede; each student chose whether to depict a paved road, a path, a railroad, etc. I challenged each student to include two of the same type of object (trees, people, buildings…) with one nearer and one farther from the viewer and the apparent size decreasing with distance. From there, the rest of the details were up to each student to choose; they opted for forests, deserts, towns, or more fantastical settings. Before beginning to paint, I went over some tips and tricks, such as making sure to use paint only at the end of the brush for better control, starting with shadows, and putting any used brushes immediately into water to avoid letting the paint harden on them. I asked students to consider the time of day when choosing the colors of the sky and suggested adding tints of blue to more distant objects. Students dove right in, painting gradients of blue sky or shading and texture in leaves. They also pitched in for cleanup, setting out artworks to dry on the counter with Nick’s help and clearing away used palettes and paper towels at the end of class. Lots of moving parts when acrylic paint is in use!
Students working on landscape painting with perspective
Having cut out shapes in colorful paper last week, Grades 1 and 2 began to compose and glue their collages this week. We reexamined artworks by Romare Bearden that capture the spirit of jazz through rhythmic repetition of figures, faces, hands, and musical instruments.
Last time, students had the choice to trace stencils or create their own drawings of musicians to cut out; now, they retrieved their cutouts from the envelopes we’d stored them in and used glue sticks to layer them onto sheets of brightly colored paper. We encouraged students to experiment with overlapping figures and musical instruments. Many students were eager to trace and cut out more shapes after they’d glued down their first round. They will finish bringing their projects to life with acrylic paint markers next week.
Working on Jazz collages
AYB Managing Director Dennis Buonagura recaps today's ART YARD Art Matters at PS 6: "In Teaching Artist Jules Lorenzo's lesson titled Home: Here, There, Everywhere, students at our Jersey City Partnership school PS 6 began a 3 week workshop which will culminate in a fabric collage representing everyday items found at home.
Jules was assisted today by Simone Awor who gives each student encouragement and attention when needed and always offers a personal approach.
Students viewed a presentation of the fabric works of Do Ho Suh and fabric and paper works by Judy Bowman - leading to discussions about types of fabrics, and the difference between 2D and 3D. Jules provided prompts, written on slips of paper, and allowed each student to select one, which would become the subject of their piece.
Lots of smiles during the selection process - most were happy to choose "fridge", "stove", "pets", or "chair" but there were lots of laughs from those who received "rubber ducky".
Starting with pencil (and a ruler to create borders around the edges), 2 classes of 2nd graders and 1 class of 5th graders drew potted plants, bath tubs (some with bubbles - some with shower attachments), couches with throw pillows, bookcases (filled with Harry Potter books!), teddy bears, and even a camel (that feel under the "pets" category - who am I to question this?).
Students begin drawings
Adding a layer of colored pencil
Once the pencil drawings were complete, students used colored pencils - and some even moved on to cutting and pasting fabric in this first day of classes. Very productive sessions - as usual at PS 6.
Collage with fabric
We heard a chorus of "oh no" when we announced that time was up - and all are greatly looking forward to next week."
Other Art News
Congratulations to AYB Artist Mia Lew on her latest exhibition! Mia writes from RISD: "My drawing professor curated one of my drawings and put it in a show in the drawing building."
I (Meridith) was happy to be asked to participate in an Exquisite Corpse project for Neon Raspberry Art House, a California based gallery that ”shows an unusual and deeply meaningful cohort of artists. Curating with a pro-active aim to right representation and equity in gallery spaces and prioritize BIPOC and Queer artists as well as artists actively using their practice as a form of social transformation.” Just our kind of art space!
When I received the package, I was initially in a conundrum about how to fit legs AND feet onto the squat wide paper of the lowest third. Then the few wispy tendrils of drawing that I could see peeking down from Brece’s hidden artwork sparked my idea as the lines called to mind the fur of my cat Lola.
Then I unfurled to view the completed collaborative work, a sort of nature cat girl!
AYB Artist Abriel (bob) Gardner is performing this weekend. Bob writes: “I have a performance this Saturday for a fundraiser gala at this dance space called Pageant. It’s going to be a pageant with judges and we each have 5 minutes to present our act. I will be doing a badminton routine”
Abriel (bob) in costume, and Shuttlecocks, Claus Oldenberg and Chosje van Bruggen, Shuttlecocks, 1994, installed at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Photo Associated Press
AYB Artist Ajani Russell invites us to attend Jupiter’s Friends 4 To Be Or Not To Be… A Narcissist, a panel discussion tonight, Friday April 17, 7-10pm at Silence Please, 132 Bowery, NYC. RSVP required.
🩵🏠🏸🌸
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