Amy Cutler at Leslie Tonkonow for a second time, at least for now.

Birdhouses and birdcages attached to stretched out, long hair of women entering the picture. Each one or the birdcages appears like a hull of a memory of a person who left a long time ago. These are not the skins of reptiles that in any way give hints of the form of those who used to inhabit them. The cages were created at a different time, made to fit a certain type of species. Now these containers are like the shells of memories. Shadow casting pointers. Some are the same. Were the birds living in them the same? We will not know. The women carry them, there does not appear to be a chance for them to remove the cages from their hair. This is the way things go. This is a working, logical system. A group of burdened women enters the stage with their snowmen. It is as if they had been assigned to each other. Not all snowmen were created equal, of course. Some are cool and bold, complete. Some look rather soft and melted. Some just lost their head. Some need to have their carrot reattached. The women seem to be in control, even if some of them do not really seem to want to be. Some have to carry whatever is left of their snowmen. Some carry just a zink bathtub, maybe one of the ornamental sweaters, the leftovers, the memories, not even water seems to be left in some cases... Went to see the Amy Cutler show at Leslie Tonkonow again this morning. It was actually one of the very first things I did today. Looked at the twelve or so pieces in the show for a second time.. I like coming back to art. It is much better than seeing it for the first time, at least with good work it is. Perhaps because going back to see good work makes the experience a bit closer to the process of making it. A tiny bit closer. It was good to see the blue tongues of the piled up giraffes again. It was good to see the beautiful fabrics on all of the portrayed figures. It was good to see the portions of faces of women carrying back their eyes into a possibly common past. It was good to see again the very particular way in which Amy Cutler draws wood. Her ornate fabrics are rather incredible. Some of the compositions look like elaborately cropped snapshots. And yet the love to detail makes it very clear that not much about this work happened by accident. There are enough layers in the work to make me come back several more times. The show is on at Leslie Tonkonow through June 12th. Just enough time for a few more visits. Oh, and one should definitely go in the morning... my first visit to the show was more of a packed experience.