Little Pocket
Jenny Dowd
Several months ago I was invited to make a piece for a show at Mystery Print Gallery in Pinedale, WY and I think the prompt was one of my all-time favorites: Tiny Vacant Spaces.
I had so many ideas right from the start, but also completely discounted each one of them as they didn’t fully fit the theme.
I thought about the pocket my mom made for me that I would put under my pillow at night with a tooth for the tooth fairy.
I thought about my school desk in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade when I was convinced a mouse lived in there at night. Before leaving every afternoon I would arrange my books and school supplies to create little stairs, hallways, and nooks for the mouse. In the morning I would wonder at what antics it got up to while the school was quiet.
I thought about envelopes and hollow mushrooms and clouds and ladders and how the moon appears so tiny.
At the absolute last minute, the day before the final shipping deadline I came back to the pocket.
I found a tiny 4x4 inch frame and created a stack of fabric to fill the space, and then made a teeny tiny pocket for the top of the stack. The thick frame means the piece can hang on the wall or stand up in a nook.
These are my thoughts on pockets, and specifically - Little Pocket:
Too often there are no pockets where there should be pockets. All the possibilities of the myriad of things that could go in those pockets are lost. Little Pocket is a shadowy ghost of the pocket that should be.
As much as I enjoy coming up with ideas, I also like a good challenge in packing and shipping my art - so here was my solution -
After placing a protective front over the open frame the whole thing was wrapped in foam, and held in place with not only strawberry tape but also a rubber band. Then I popped it into a little box. Pretty easy compared to some!
The exhibition will be on display at Mystery Print Gallery until December 30, 2023 - if you are in the area stop by and see how all the artists interpreted this theme. And keep an eye on the Mystery Print FaceBook page for photos of the show!