Tatiana Flis: Documenting Process

The second of two artists featured in Fountain Street’s current exhibit, Scarcely Awake, is Tatiana Flis. Scarcely Awake is on view through Sunday, June 11th. There will be an artists talk and performance on Sunday June 10 from 1-3. Below Tatiana takes us through her studio journal and shares thoughts about her creative process.

This past year I started to keep a pocket journal when I would work in the studio. I require myself to write down a minimum of four observations. These observations include: the date, amount of time in the studio, what I am listening to, and usually some sort of commentary. Along with this journal I require one photo.

Journal Entries:

Image: Obsidian and (An)Obsidian Return (in progress)

date: January 18, 2017
time in studio: 3 hours
listening to: The Dick Van Dyke Show (netflix)
observation: Richie is one annoying kid.
working on: Recreating the original drawing that inspired my house series. I would later go back and rework the original.

Image: ping! (in progress), my chucks, and an inspirational drop cloth

date: February 12, 2017
time in studio: 5 hours
listening to: Bowie, Prince, Primus, and Alice in Chains.
observation: That feeling when you like your drop cloth more than the work itself.
working on: “Clouds” or are they rocks…one of them could be a hat.

Image: quixotic (breaking out of its Alginate mold)

date: March 5, 2017
time in studio: 3 hours
listening to: Mike Doughty
working on: My sister is visiting for the weekend and is giving me a hand (oh boy) so we work on casts and documenting my process.
observation: There is just something about the process and what is discarded that I am drawn to… Need to figure out how to integrate discarded materials into finished works. Oh and my sister rocks.

Image: Apogee’s Horizon (in progress)

date: April 25, 2017
time in studio: 12 hours (creative residency at Drop, Forge & Tool)
listening to: S-Town and Oregon’s Alternative Radio
working on: Drawings
observation: draw, draw, draw, draw...