Roots

A.Kimberlin Blackburn

October 12 – December 7 2013

Wandering the farm I find many marvels to contemplate. Old old mangoes trees loom over smaller volunteer trees and ferns. Orange, red and yellow mushrooms grow on rotting fallen branches. A nun's cap wild orchid grows on a hau limb that stretches over the river where I can not traverse. After one huge storm I spy the orchid upside down hanging from a single root. Time to rescue it. Scrambling over and under the chaos of branches, I bring it home. Grandmother's old macadamia nut tress nestle under the huge tangle of hau. When in bloom their delicate fragrant flowers beg closer inspection.

Walking the row of fruit trees –jackfruit, breadfruit, orange, tangerine, avocado, tangelo-- I am seduced by the canopied shadows. After feeding the chickens with their emptied feed bucket in hand, I began to discover bits and pieces of farm equipment rusted, now unearthed. When that row of trees had to come down for the downsizing of the farm, my very favorite tangelo tree was one removed. Walking the girls, I would pick a tangelo everyday to eat – right off the tree, the sweetest, juicy fruit. Moving into the future with full time farming days more & more behind us, this particular tree took on new meaning as it stood stripped bare, of its branches, fruit and leaves, alone in the field. Inspired by museum trips, the Hirschhorn in Dc especially, and sadden for the loss of my tree, I became attracted to its new state.

I got to “know” my father-in-law while playing with old parts from his pineapple truck, irrigation systems and tools. I found old family mementos; heirloom tools that had been used hard and kept as the amazing objects they are. Love was hidden and found in the inanimate objects they left behind with their deaths.

Our combined ancestral families have brought skills, concepts and love to my life. My Dad's motto was “if it doesn't eat – keep it” and out in the new yard was our Honolulu home's big cement laundry sink. On my parent's fireplace brick wall was a favored root ball my mom thought was so aesthetically pleasing. My grandmother started me sewing and painting when I was a babe. Scraps of fabric only folded 1st, later sewn, opened the door for my love of mixed media. As I treasure the memories, these things hold some of their essence. The kept items are touchstones for me, speaking of our shared times and many fine meals.

With side trip to museums, its my dreams come true, what's not to love?

-- A.Kimberlin Blackburn 2013

THE COUPLE
2012/13
glass beads linen, cotton and acrylic on birch
103 x 113 x 3 inch, 111 x 111 x 3 inch

THE COUPLE II, 2013
52 x 53 x 20, 56 x 57 x 20
on pedestals:, 20 x 20 x 39 inch

RECONSTRUCTING OUR TANGELO, 2013
100 x 58 x 87 inch
wood and metal

SEEKING ANCESTRAL WISDOM, 2013
100 x 23 x 24 inch

wood and metal

“There will be no trees falling in this forest...and everyone will hear the sound”
2013
78 x 23 x 14 inch
wood and metal

DREAMING IN THE GROVE
2013
glass beads linen, cotton and acrylic on birch
19 x 21 x 22.5 inch

LOVE
2013
100 x 78 x 2 inch
family heirloom saws
- collaboration with Bruna Stude

FOOD TO GO:

My father and my mother-in-law were great cooks and many family meals were times of good story telling, nourishment for the body and soul.

Farming in our culture has changed so radically in the last 50 years and now
there is ground swelling movement of slow food. Food lovingly prepared from scratch, the simple vegetable dishes reverberate with fresh color and flavor. Vegetables grown right outside my door with meat from the rancher down the road and fresh fish from friends grace our table. My great parents lived on a family farm and my husband is a 3rd generation farmer. The sheer joy of planting seeds and selling vegetable just picked that day at farmer's markets opened a new world for me. A world of wondrous love, hard physical work, healthy delicious food.

UTURN
2013
48 x 28 x 41
mixed media