Art Update

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Photo Credit: Misael Martínez

Winter/Spring 2020

Hello! This is Aisha. I hope you are well! I wanted to reach out this winter and let you know what I've been up to!

It has been a busy year in my studio! I quit teaching at The Evergreen State College this fall and started working in my studio full time. It has been thrilling and invigorating to greet my work with freshness and enthusiasm. I have been working on new work, figuring out how to get my work cast into bronze, having pieces in my first museum show, doing workshops, and being interviewed for a documentary about Olympia area artists. I have also coordinated a crowd funding campaign to raise money to have two of my larger works turned into bronze and exhibited in public venues! All so exciting!

My plan is to bring you one of these updates about twice a year. If you are interested in receiving a printed version instead, please let me know. If you'd like to be taken off this list, please let me know that too or you can hit unsubscribe at the end of the newsletter.

Take care,
Aisha

Keep in Touch!
Website: www.aishaharrison.com
Email: Aisha@aishaharrison.com

New Ventures in Bronze

This year I began developing a series of works to be cast into bronze. My pieces start in water based clay. If I want a replica of the piece in bronze, I take it to a foundry where they take a mold of it and cast it into bronze. This highly intensive foundry work can take between 1-4 months.
More about the lost wax bronze casting process here

Circular Memory, 2019, Aisha Harrison, 12"x13"x5"
I've always thought of hair as a connection to my human ancestors through DNA. I also often use hair as a dynamic sculptural actor in my work. This hair extends out in circular patterns connecting and reconnecting to itself and the head.

The piece is pictured here in clay but will be cast into bronze. It is a wall piece with a limited edition of 6.

$3200 starting retail price
$2200 Pre-foundry price, good until May 1st, 2020.

What is the "Pre-Foundry" Price?
The Pre-Foundry price is the price before I have given a piece to the foundry. A buyer purchases a bronze replica of the piece while it is still rendered in clay and has not been cast yet. The price is substantially less than the starting retail price after a work has been cast into bronze. Pre-foundry sales help me because I don't have to invest the complete amount upfront to mold and cast a piece. The pre-foundry price will be available for a limited time. Deposit of 50% due before work goes to foundry with the rest due upon completion.

Leaning Figure, 2011, Aisha Harrison, 14"x3"x4.5"

This small figure was created when I was at a fellowship residency at Baltimore Clayworks. I kept this sculpture as one of my favorite pieces and it will be great as a bronze!

Limited Edition of 6 in bronze, shown here in fired clay.
$3300 starting retail price
Pre-foundry price is $2300, good until May 1st, 2020.

What do I do if I am interested in purchasing a piece?

If you're interested in purchasing a piece, whether it is one of the bronzes or a one of a kind in clay, please contact me to make sure it is still available. If it is a bronze piece, it is possible that I will have it in stock, but it may need to be cast. Foundry times can vary between 1-4 months. I will give you an estimate of the time it will take for your piece to be complete. 50% will be due at the time of the order and the balance will be due upon completion.

Email me at harrison.aisha@gmail.com, contact me via my website at www. aishaharrison.com, or call 360-584-6056

Crowd Source Campaign
Goal $25,000
Campaign Dates: January 15, 2020 - April 1,2021

Be a part of the movement to get Woman With Graves at Her Back and She-nah-num Salmon Prayer cast into bronze and placed in public spaces!

Woman with Graves at Her Back, 2019, Aisha Harrison

This life-sized piece represents an ancestor who survived the journey across the Atlantic. This ancestor witnessed many tragic and heroic things and survived them. Her bravery and will to live is part of why I’m here today. I want to give this ancestor a home that honors her, a place she can rest and behold the sacredness of the Pacific Northwest, where parts of my family have lived for four generations. The cavity below her ribs will grow moss and will need to be tended, like our relationship to land and ancestors of the past, present, and future.

This piece is shown in clay. Get involved with getting this piece cast into Bronze and placed in a public space! Visit www.gofundme.com/help-me-turn-clay-into-bronze, email me at harrison.aisha@gmail.com or send a check to P.O. Box 11733, Olympia, WA, 98508-1733.

Make sure to check out the donor appreciation gifts below!

Imagine My Sculptures Outside!
This is a visioning image created to show what Woman With Graves at Her Back would look like beholding the Salish Sea.

Photo Credit: Misael Martínez

She-nah-num Salmon Prayer, 2019, Aisha Harrison

This piece represents a prayer for She-nah-num (Medicine Creek/McAllister Creek), the salmon, and the many species (137) that are dependent on salmon. Each of the plants and animals on the prayer line (which is in the shape of part of She-nah-num) is dependent on the salmon. We humans, and in particular the original inhabitants of this land also depend on the salmon for survival. The Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854 was signed along the banks of She-nah-num. I’ve been thinking a lot about this land that I live on, that it was stolen, and also that I love it deeply and feel it is the only place I will ever call home. As a multi-racial person I work to hold complexity and difference in my body and in my work. I strive to be a future ancestor.

This piece is shown here in clay and wax. Get involved with getting this piece cast into Bronze and placed in a public space! See below for details.

Photo Credit: Misael Martínez

Thank you for your interest in the campaign! Any sized donation toward the $25,000 goal is greatly appreciated. I will keep in touch with developments.

Contact and Mailing Information
You are welcome to contact me/donate in any of the following ways!

Go Fund Me Account: www.gofundme.com/help-me-turn-clay-into-bronze

Web: www.aishaharrison.com

Email: Aisha@aishaharrison.com

Snail mail:
Aisha Harrison
P.O. Box 11733
Olympia, WA
98508-1733

To receive a small token of my appreciation please choose your level of engagement below:

$25 Sticker
$150 Hand Carved Clay Face Pin
$500 Modified Linocut Print with Hand Drawn Elements
$1500+ Original Small Clay Bust or Your Name as a Major Donor on a plaque near one of the installed pieces

Make sure to leave me a reliable address where I can contact you about your gift or the name you would like on the plaque.

Below are examples of the pin, linocut print with hand drawn elements, and an example bust.

Other Recent Sculpture

Ancestor I, 2018, Aisha Harrison, 41"x27"x10", fired stoneware, clay, graphite, fiber, resin.

Ancestor I represents connections to my ancestors, human, animal, and plant. The roots/veins/blood pass through all three bodies and tie them together.

$4650 plus shipping. Original one of a kind piece in fired clay and mixed media. Must be kept indoors and is very fragile.

Image Credit: Misael Martínez

Through II, 2018, Aisha Harrison, 29”x14”x11”, Fired Stoneware Clay, embroidery thread, graphite, glue
Many iterations of this piece happened in drawings and carvings before it became a reality in three dimensions. The red threads, representing blood, roots, veins, or energy come out of/into the area I associate with the voice.

$3750 plus shipping. Original one of a kind piece. Must be kept indoors.

Image Credit: Misael Martínez

take You apart to make something new, 2018, Aisha Harrison, 31”x19”x17”, stoneware clay, paint
Sprouting veins/hair/roots, this being of head spinal column and pelvis is rooted to the earth and stretches toward the stars.

$3250 plus shipping. This is an original one of a kind piece. It is very fragile and must be kept indoors.

Image Credit: Misael Martínez

Face First
Bainbridge Art Museum
October 12th, 2019- February 23, 2020.

Image Credit: Misael Martínez

This fall I was invited to participate in a multi-media exhibition of 20 Puget Sound area artists at the Bainbridge Art Museum. The show features artists whose work includes portraiture focused especially on the human face. I feel honored to be included in this excellent exhibition and I encourage everyone to see it!

Here's an Article by Lisa Edge about the show (includes an interview of me): www.realchangenews.org/2019/11/13/fierce-fearful-human-expression-profiled-bainbridge-island-museum-art-portraiture

Below are some images of the work that is in the show.

Image Credit: Misael Martínez

2018, 2018, Aisha Harrison, 18”x18”x15”, stoneware clay, graphite
Each year since 2016 I have made a "self-portrait" bust that encapsulates the year. This is my bust for 2018, finished in the late fall of that year.
$3250 plus shipping- This is a one of a kind and must be kept indoors.

Lens, 2013, Aisha Harrison, 2013, 22" x 10" x 5", stoneware clay, salt, mixed media
Our social and cultural upbringing/situation will always influence our lens- how we see things.
$1350 plus shipping- This is a one of a kind and must be kept indoors.

Image Credit: Shauna Bittle

Image Credit: Shauna Bittle

The Deposit, 2013, Aisha Harrison, 8"x11"x 5", stoneware clay, salt
This small intimate piece is one of my favorites. Sometimes we say something ignorant, even to friends.
$1350 plus shipping- This is a one of a kind and must be kept indoors.

Upcoming Events: Workshops, Studio Visits, OlyFilm Documentary

Idea Development Workshops

February 9th, March 14th, 2020
10am -3 pm

I will be offering idea generation workshops at my studio where participants will practice several methods that they can use to deepen and develop ideas based on their life experiences. Space is limited. $195 per person. Includes materials. Sliding Scale Available. Contact harrison.aisha@gmail.com for more details.

"Wow, its hard to condense what I got out of your workshop. It seems like magic, how you can lead us through a process, covering so much ground, that starts with one image, journals us through the depths of our experience, taking a reiterative process to the point we can then move to a 2-D printmaking experience. The rapid fire creation of images ends up going very deep. A pattern, a direction emerges, one not seen until after the work is done and reflected upon." - Kathy D

South Sound Studio Tour

May 2nd & 3rd, 2020
10 am- 4pm

I will be participating in the South Sound Studio Tour again this year. Please join us at Wild Acre Studios! Pamphlets with maps for participating studios will be available closer to the date. Send me an email if you would like one mailed to you.

You can also schedule a private studio tour for yourself or a small group by contacting me directly at harrison.aisha@gmail.com.

OlyFilm Documentary

Screening Date May 4, 2020
Capitol Theater
Time: TBD

This fall I was invited to participate in a project highlighting Olympia area artists by the OlyFilm Collective. A variety of film crews will be creating twelve to fifteen minute documentaries and then stitching them together into one feature length documentary. I will be the featured artist in the documentary directed by Misael Martínez and produced by Susana Bailén. I will also participate with several other artists in a documentary about motherhood and being an artist directed by Patrick Fifelski and produced by Brendon Thompson.