skowhegan

The work “Colleagues” is a project I did in 2006 when I attended the residency Skowhegan School of Painting. This is a 2-month residency located at the Town of Skowhegan, State of Maine, USA. While I was there many of the resident artists mentioned how hard it was to suddenly adjust to the new environment without feeling overwhelmed (each year 60 artists are selected) and how the residency did not offer any formal solutions to the emotional stress this communal life in the middle of the woods caused.

These kinds of comments and situations I myself felt the first week inspired me to look for a therapist in the town of Skowhegan located 5 kilometers away from the residency. There were only three therapists in town, and only one of them, Dr. Leigh Haskell, agreed to meet with me and talk. I explained her during our encounter the how some of the artists at the residency felt about the experience and asked her if she would be interested in giving counseling to some of the artists. She agreed to visit the residency. I thought it could be most practical if she could use my studio as her office, so under her supervision I transformed my studio into a counseling office. Simultaneously I posted a sheet of paper in the main office asking artists to sign in if they were interested in therapy.

Since the sessions were not cheap I asked Dr Lee Haskel if she accepted artworks created by the artists as her fees. She agreed and 5 artists signed in for a 4 session therapy treatment, where they had to focus on a precise subject they wanted to work on. Once the 4 sessions where over I asked Dr. Leigh Haskell if we could do an open to the public exhibition at her actual office in town. She agreed and the show occurred once the 4 sessions were over. I consider this work an exchange of values, and an opportunity to approach art form a therapeutic angle. The relocation of her office and my studio created a diptych.

I see this work as a collaboration where two parallel disciplines cross in in one specific moment to generate something new. I don’t consider I can do this work again somewhere else, since it originated only under those particular circumstances.