Transforming the Canon

Five years ago, I began dismantling and reassembling a volume set of Metropolitan Seminars in Art by John Canaday. I was interested in altering his narrative, writing new stories over the old. Part of my process is the continuous rhythm of deconstruction and reconstruction–breaking down this vintage canon of art history from the 1950s and reworking it to my own liking. I ripped out pages, tore them up, obliterated sections with whitewash and graphite, then reassembled the parts until they spoke some truth to me. It has been an ongoing, mysterious search.

At first, I hand-sewed the disassembled pages together with thread. Stitching referenced "women's work," and I metaphorically mended history. My discovery of staples to fasten the fragments together significantly shifted my visual language. Not as gentle or delicate as thread, the seductive metallic staples referenced armor or weapons. Pounding the stapler was more physical than sewing, let alone the satisfying, echoing kaCHUNK with every staple–perfect for my mission of transformation in dark times.

Bumping up against and responding to these art history books has been insightful. Thinking about the artists represented, I wonder about those overlooked or not included. I grapple with what the images say about society and women. I consider the patrons' influence on the work's subject matter–what was in vogue then and had a market. I am drawn to the human experience revealed and what it tells me. All this is through John Canaday's biased filter of what is good art and what is not. History speaks to where we find ourselves today–there are lessons to be learned. It's a quagmire, a real stew, and that is where the juice is, for me. I'm finding my path forward by unmaking and remaking this old narrative, one piece at a time.