Artist Lecture: Penelope Umbrico

I thoroughly enjoyed Penelope Umbrico's lecture yesterday. Not only was I inspired by her work itself (the Flickr Suns, empty mirrors, and backwards books were gorgeous!), but by her obvious passion and enthusiasm for everything that she creates. I was particularly entertained by the irony of the way her work - which often speaks about absurdity in our culture - brings absurd actions like obsessive collecting/archiving into her life. I was very impressed by the fresh and relative appearance of even her oldest works, and her ability to bring beauty to all of her conceptual pieces - which is something that I personally struggle with. It completely blows my mind to think of working in such a meticulous and thoughtful manner - collecting hundreds of magazine/catalog clippings, craigslist ads, and ebay listings, as well as performing endless research - but it clearly works for her and the effort shows through in her work. Not only did I find Umbrico to be an extremely inspiring artist, but a very entertaining and thoughtful speaker as well. I was not ready for her lecture to end! Please see a few of my favorites from her work below.