Alexis Wreden — Ruston, LA
Environmental Artis, June 2004
"The secret of seeing is to sail on solar
wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are
a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff."
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek pp.31-34 from
Peter London, Drawing in Nature pp.61.
"Is
there a consensus --out there --among artists about the
most important conditions (physical, spiritual, emotional)
that must be present for art making or creativity? I'm almost
certain there must be a chemical change in our bodies which
enables us to become open to the process of making and thinking
about art or music or literature --completely and without
restraint. Whether chemical or "alchemical", I
think I may have discovered the exact conditions for creativity
and in my case, art making at "A Studio in the Woods"
in Lower Algiers, Louisiana.
During my residency there I found the time
and the space to be open to the experience and meaning of
an artist studio (a place solely for writing or making art
or music). I found the time and space to be open to the
experience of the bottomland hardwood forest (a place to
be curious and for aimless wandering). I found the time
and space to see and stand next to the Mississippi River
(a place to witness the clashing forces of culture and nature.)
The restoration of the meaning of place is the gift of this
artist residency for me.
I have also found other precious aspects of
life I have never before been privileged to see. I enjoyed
the full-- three-dimensional experience of A Studio in the
Woods without the distractions of ordinary responsibilities
through the physicality of a restored world. One without
the constant humm of the air-conditioners. My body was comfortably
aware of the warmth of the summer as I watched the light
change moment by moment as it moved across the sky from
east to west. The exciting streams of floating particles
of light in the morning and glorious golden energy awakening
the full glow of the woods from forest floor to the sky
at sunset. A daytime chorus kept me company through the
myriad concertos of frogs and barred owls and of newly discovered
jazz musicians as distant strains of trumpet melodies soaked
through the boughs of the huge trees.
The rhythmic clicking sound of the overhead
fan at night comforted me, as I lay on my bed half awake.
Aware of the presence of the miraculous balancing act of
the old live oak and the young "rooting" armadillo.
I listened to the horns of huge industrial ships gliding
down the dark waters of the not so distant Mississippi.
I bonded with a big black dog.
This artist life was made possible on a daily
basis by the kind people who live there, Lucianne and Joe
Carmichael and by the people who work there, Ama Rogan and
Dave Baker. The fullness of existence was impressive, as
the required presence of people a grant writer, land steward,
musician and a pair of loving mentors gathered. I was given
three meals a day and absolute refusal of any banal responsibilities
I might want to assume in order to guarantee my special
time as an artist. In a world of commodities and war this
experience was a privilege I would wish for the entire world."
Biography
Alexis Wreden, is an artist and Assistant
Professor in the School of Architecture at Louisiana Tech
University in Ruston, Louisiana. She holds a Masters of
Fine Arts degree in sculpture from Indiana University, Bloomington
and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Graduate
School of Design at Harvard University. Her drawings and
environmental art works are inspired by the wetland landscapes
of Louisiana.
She proposes site-specific sculpture
installations that use landforms as part of the artwork's
vocabulary. These installations combine art, architecture
and landscape architecture to create forms that recall primitive
dwellings, temporary shelters and abstract art. Ms. Wreden's
work is influenced by her love of the natural world, of
drawing, of her commitment to environmental issues, and
of her role as a teacher of design and drawing. She lives
in Ruston, Louisiana with her dogs Walter and Zona and her
husband Robert Fakelmann.
