upcoming show

Untitled (Caravaggio), wool, steel, sisal rope, dimensions vary upon installation, 2013

Your Statement is Inside

Show Dates: Wednesday, June 19 through Sunday, August 4, 2013

Artist Reception: Sunday June 23 3-5pm

SOWA First Friday: July 5 and August 2, 5-8

Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday 12-6pm

Introducing my first solo exhibit at Boston Sculptors Gallery June 19 through August 4, 2013. The show, Your Statement is Inside, will showcase my woven and felted silk, wool and steel sculptures that correlate with outdoor public art installation, the Lighthouse, for the group show Convergence, situated on the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts.

For these two shows I collected raw wool from New England farms, which then were woven and felted into sculptural forms. One piece titled Penelope’s Sail, is made from silk and merino wool and then used in Double Edge Theatre’s summer production of The Odyssey, where I collaborates on set design. Night after night Penelope (Odysseus’ wife, played by Hannah Jarrell) and the wind and rain opened the felt into a beautiful lacy material. I then worked it into what I believe Penelope’s sail would look like if she ever had made one to sail away from Ithaka.

Another piece, Untitled (5x5), a 5x5 foot steel and wool cube, continues my aesthetic of The Lighthouse by mixing elements of light, and urban and rural materials inside the gallery.

Your Statement is Inside will be shown concurrently with Pilgrimage by Kalimah Muhammad and Convergence, at the Christian Science Plaza

Bostons Sculptors Gallery is located at 486 Harrison Ave. Boston, MA 02118, tel. 617-482-7781

The Christian Science Plaza is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

Images of install of The Lighthouse

Here are some images compiled of the preparation and installation for The Lighthouse.

continuing the process

We learn many things from our work after it is up and in the world, and The Lighthouse is no different. An artist may set off in one direction of thought for why they are creating a sculpture, video or painting, but inevitably, the work has something to tell the artist.

I can tell you that I started my process by thinking about Boston being the home of the first lighthouse in North America. About how the materials are chosen for the industries of New England, and how the wool, a material not found on the Christian Science Plaza is in contrast with the static solid massive materials and buildings of the plaza. How the wool can move in the wind and twist among its graceful scaffolding. I thought the grid of the scaffold mimics the lines of its surroundings, the rope bridges the two materials, and in the wind, was a moving line. I thought the lighthouse was about employing the sun as the light of the lighthouse.

But then the installation comes out of the studio, interacts with its surroundings and continues the process that the artist started. It becomes much more than its materials. In this case perhaps The Lighthouse is about opening up. Opening up the impenetrable forms of the buildings or ourselves. The typically thick walls of a lighthouse are not there and we witness the internal structure allowing the light to shine through.

​The Lighthouse at dusk

Thanks! Many Many Thanks

WE ARE FUNDED! Oh Wow! Thank you all so very very much. This has been an experience I will never forget from the very beginning to the very end. And it never ends.....The work will keep on going, thanks to you, my community, my supporters, my light. 

AND more good news! From the successful fundraising and response, USA Projects is keeping the donations coming in to help cover the cost of building The Lighthouse through to June 6.

May the impenetrable walls come down so the light that shines from within is visible for all!

The Convergence show that The Lighthouse is a part of is going on through to November, please come to Boston Christian Science Plaza and see the beautiful public sculptures of Boston SculptorsGallery

​The Lighthouse ​at dusk

Gratitude

I am grateful for this experience of showing in Boston, for the people setting the stage of this public art exhibition, Convergence, to the supporters who have helped me inspirationally, financially and by volunteering. Most importantly, I am grateful for the help of my better half, Andrew, who cooked meals, took photographs and massaged shoulders. Below please find those angels bringing light to the arts:

​Ann and Johnson Winship, David Winship, Amy Wright, Sarah Bliss, Roz Driscoll, Joanne Desmund, Nod Milliken, Ashley and Peter Milliken, Marr Scaffolding, Industrial Sheet Metal, BMW Ironworks, Shakeyground Farm, The Vermont Shepherd, Tregellys Farm, Winterberry Farm, The Massachusetts Fibershed, Tanstaafl Farm, Andy Rice, The American Sheep Industry, Marci Caplis, Stephen Kiernan, Brian and Elise Napack, Stephen Jones, Andrew St. John, Amanda Shipley, Christine Stevens, Tim Holcomb, Lee Darling Kauper, Sal Strom, Stacy Klein, Carlos Uriona, Sue Katz, Eva Loher, Chris Nelson, Wendy Roth, Anne Maclean, Terry Rooney, George Sherwood, Ron Picnia, Sydney Resendez, Jean Mineo, Julia Shepley, Sandra Workman, Felicia Van Bork, Melanie Hedlund, Hannah Jarrell, Olivia Holcomb, Nicki Robb, Donna Dodson, Mac Dewart, Andy Zimmerman, Alina Bayer, Toni Gaspard, Robert Herlinger.

And to my two studio assistants who wove with me through the seasons, bouncing ideas, silence and laughter, Sarah Cormier ​and Gina Shvartsman, My Heartfelt Thanks.

Letting Go of the Familiar

Installation in Boston is almost done, it has been an amazing and full week.

Here is an excerpt from my studio notebook,

"For the past few days I had an extreme experience as an artist. It is something I will not soon forget. Using both new materials and materials I have been conversing with for some time now, I constructed on site for the first time in an urban center. Directing the men who are my “hands” molding the sculpture seventy feet in the air was a new challenge for all of us. I woke up this morning with designs for the next sculpture that is germinated from this melange of unfamiliar."

There will be more information to follow, and more images of morning light and the colorful night time lights from within, but for now....​

We are installing!

​Marr Scaffolding installing

​Meet Ronnie, Nate and Tim

two weeks to go to installation!

With two weeks to go the studio is busy! Trips to Marr Scaffolding to talk about installation, meetings with Industrial Sheet Metal to get the base measured just right, and of course more glorious weaving! Figuring out the plan for installation starts with packaging the wool.

This is a preview of one of the most important parts of The Lighthouse. The scaffolding, basically an erector set, provides the structure and skeleton for the wool to interact with the wind.

Press

Here are two links to nice articles from Amherst Biennial. and American Sheep Industry

March update

Three weeks away from installation and I thought you might like to see the studio.

Names of the sheep

One of my favorite parts of collecting wool during shearing season is feeling the warmth of the sheep still on the newly shorn wool. When I get back to the studio and empty out a bag, usually a note falls out with the name of the sheep written on the back of an envelope or an order from a feed delivery in the farmer's scrawled or flowery handwriting. Let me share with you some of the names of the sheep whose wool will be gracing The Lighthouse:

Aramata, Taraval, Hillerman, Iago, Erla, Charlie, Henry, Betty, Dosteovsky, Isis, Honeycut, Eliza, Pink, Buttercup.

I have not tallied the number of pounds of wool used so far, but my guess is over 150. My heartfelt thanks to the shearers, the farmers, and the sheep. Farming is a labor of love these days, and so is art.

news from the studio

We are in the last month of production of The Lighthouse and it is all hands on deck! We have over 100 feet of woven wool, which is only one component of the multi-layered sculpture. There is also felting, silk, over 60 feet of 3-inch thick rope, steel and determination.
The other exciting news is that we have raised almost $4000 in our fundraising efforts. With the help of family, old and now new friends, momentum is building and the goal feels within reach. My most heartfelt thanks for those who have helped by donating, spreading the news, and sending encouragement. 


Sarah Cormier and Gina Shvartsman manage the stairs! We needed to take the wool outside to measure and the freight elevator is on vacation this month. (Sarah is a Canadian theatre artist who has just begun a new phase of research at Double Edge Theatre through the support of the Ontario Arts Council.)

Over 100 feet! Just 20 more to go on this part.

A Remarkable Intern

A remarkable Intern

Meet Gina Shvartsman, a UMass student with intelligence and heart to spare. She is a wonderful addition to the studio when she comes to weave and felt and fill me in on what is happening in her Zen class.

Printing With Wool

Sometimes one just needs a break from weaving and felting! This is when I get to print and draw with wool, mimicking the many layers of the sculptures in the studio.

Untitled, ink on rag paper, 8x10 inches, 2013

Vermont Shepherd

Wow! What a wonderful first week of fundraising at USA Projects. For my artist friends I highly recommend this crowd-funding website if you are initiating a project you need to fundraise for.They are helpful, professional, tax deductable and 100% of the funds raised go towards the artist.

My USA Project page is

 here

I visited two Vermont sheep farms this week to collect wool and stories for this large installation, 

The Lighthouse

. Below is a video of shearing at 

Vermont Shepherd

The Lighthouse Update from Nancy Milliken on Vimeo.

USA Projects Fundraising Effort

I am excited to announce that I have chosen a crowd-funding website to help me raise a portion of the funds for my outdoor public sculpture, The Lighthouse. USA Projects is a tax-deductable platform for artists to raise money for their projects. Here is where you will find information and a video about my upcoming sculpture in Boston;

http://www.usaprojects.org/project/the_lighthouse

At USA Projects, you can contribute a tax-deductable gift for this ambitious project and pass the information on to others that might be interested. This networking is an important part of your help, the more people that can help spread the word, the further the reach of my circle of friends who share a passion for the arts.

I thank you for your interest in this important artistic endeavor

Detail of model for The Lighthouse

February Studio

Cobweb felt on new steel structure from Carolyn Clayton and BMW Ironworks 

Wool

Wool

Sarah Comier weaving wonder on a wintery day

We have been going through my store of wool! The search for farms that have wool to spare is on. It is my dream to get farms involved in this project, list their names as contributers and show the public how many New England sheep farmers there are. Lisa Westervelt of Moon farm in Cummington MA runs the Massachusetts Fibershed and has gotten in touch to help with our wool needs.

The Massachusetts Fibershed is an affiliate to ‘Fibershed’ http://www.fibershed.com/ whose mission is to change the way we clothe ourselves by supporting the creation of local textile cultures that enhance ecological balance, and utilize regional agriculture while strengthening local economies and communities. The Massachusetts Fibershed is a newly formed community based group whose intentions are to support and promote fiber producers and fiber artists in the state of Massachusetts by helping link artists, farmers and designers together and also developing artisan and  educational programs.

Massachusetts Fibershed  Respond to: fibershed@goodwool.com

Connecting fiber growers and fiber artists www.goodwool.com/fibershedMA.html

New steel structures in the studio from Carolyn Clayton at BMW Ironworks

Studio Walls

I have been playing with the different weights and densities of materials on the studio wall. To the right is a wonderful piece I am just understanding. This was a silk and merino wool sail that I gave to Double Edge Theatre's Hannah Jarrell as Penelope of The Odyssey. For two years, night after night of the summer production Penelope worried her way through this piece until it came apart, looking like this. I guess it is not just the wind and rain that adds the character of time to my work. Title: Penelope's Sail

The Lighthouse Process

I have launched a new blog about the process of making The Lighthouse. You can find it at http://nancywinshipmillikenstudio.blogspot.com

The Lighthouse Process from Nancy Milliken on Vimeo.

Update

on 2013-01-25 17:19 by Nancy Winship Milliken

Ben Westbrook and Carolyn Clayton of BMW Ironworks working on the model of The Lighthouse.

Today Sarah Cormier from Double Edge Theatre helps weave wool into fishing net.