fishbowl

i visited tom condon's studio on its opening night and was delighted to see his work up close and in person. i had previously only seen pictures and the one piece that was behind glass in the hall at school. being in front of them only reaffirmed the importance of that way of viewing artist's work
(as opposed to viewing them in a book, on the internet, etc); with tom's work it is the texture that results form his burning which begs to be touched. i thought about how he could be questioned as to whether his work "fits in" to the category of photography, when the realization occurred in me that he is most definitely painting with light, or more so exposing by his own hand, which is a key technique of traditional photography. the process in creating the pattern detail also very much resembles that of making photograms........ which of course that reappropriation of a photographic technique in itself intrigues me.......

entranced by the almost psychedelic koala bear-ish figures, i began talking with an old friend of the artist about myself, my own work and what is going on in my own personal life. we discussed my frustration of my being in a relationship with a non-artist (and its failure to progress), my fears of not having enough time for my art, and the issues of raising a child in a non-traditional family setting. her responses were very positive, encouraging, and reassuring. she then pulled out a work of tom's was not on display; a work that dealt with amnesia and the 3 second memory of a goldfish. (in much more eloquently spoken words than how i will describe here,) she proceeded to explain how a goldfish circles through life, always changing, going through one phase of life to the next. he is never stuck in one place for very long, and he is never the same goldfish twice.
in so many words, she, who herself is a teacher of autistic children (and therefore has to be very calm, soothing, and optimistic) let me know that, even if i dont like where i am at in life right now, it will surely not be that way forever.