by margaretroach on February 8, 2009
This Gail Albert Halaban image seems to ask: Is the child an accessory?
GAIL ALBERT HALABAN HAS MADE a celebrated career of photographing her peer group—her generational sisters, one might say. She made pictures of students when she was one; of 30-something professional women and young mothers next. Like her previous series, the new work in Out My Window, which opened Thursday at Robert Mann Gallery, is of people (usually women) in their homes, this time looking out onto New York City. It’s a perspective TSP can imagine Albert Halaban having glimpses of, with the imminent birth of her second child—the one she always knew she must give to her first. “I could not imagine not having a sibling,” she says. “It is the greatest gift in the world.” [click to continue…]
by paige on February 5, 2009
Poppy (left) and Daisy de Villeneuve were raised in England.
THE TSP SISTERS PRACTICALLY DID cartwheels after connecting the dots between the work of Daisy and Poppy de Villeneuve. Despite an ocean between them, the sisters share buzz in both art and commerce, high ambitions, and double “it-girl” status (they always were snappy dressers, as their 1983 portrait reveals). And when they are reunited and just driving around these days (traveling together as they love to), they also share a fondness for singing their very own mashups, of George Michael and Alanis Morissette, perhaps. Don’t all sisters? [click to continue…]
by paige on January 20, 2009
Diane's pocket shrine features Gene Kelly, her creative hero.
H OW COULD THE SISTER PROJECT resist someone with the nickname “Sister Diane?” When a friend turned us on to the prolific and passionate crafter Diane Gilleland, we had to delve into her work as both a creator of, and a zealous advocate for, things made by hand. Through her blog, podcasts and writing, Diane teaches and spreads the word about the power of handmade articles. She is less an aficionado of one particular craft than a supporter of spending time making things, whatever they are. As she says on her blog, showcasing an arguably unfortunate creation from a vintage craft guide: “Frankly, if somebody had a nice couple of hours making it, it’s A-OK in my book.” [click to continue…]
by paige on January 16, 2009
Gillian Clark, serving up comfort.
CHEF GILLIAN CLARK is a restaurateur, a mother of two sisters, a sister to four other siblings, and an inspiration both in and out of the kitchen. Now a star of the Washington, DC, restaurant scene, Gillian was in major transition 15 years ago. She was all set to leave her 9-to-5 marketing job behind and follow a long-held desire—to move to a farm with her family—when her marriage suddenly dissolved. Forced to abandon one dream, she turned to another and instead became a chef. Professional cooking is demanding work for anyone, but for a single mother of two young girls, it was particularly challenging. In her recent memoir, Out of the Frying Pan, Clark shares her triumphant, and yes, delicious story. The Sister Project was drawn to her spirit, her conviction about the healing powers of a great, shared meal, and her tough-love wisdom about cooking, parenting, and living the life you truly want. [click to continue…]
by margaretroach on January 14, 2009
'Sometimes it is enough to want to listen. I will give you that much credit.'
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SHE RUNS SILENT BUT DEEP, exploring in texts both written and visual a personal mythology that drew The Sister Project’s sisters in and hasn’t let us go. The idea that deeply contemplative Bonnie McLaughlin, just 25, exerts that kind of magnetic effect would not surprise her younger brother, Seth, who early on named his sister G.G.D., or Genius Girl of Destiny, which sounds to us like a female superhero if there ever was one. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 7, 2009
'See You Next Wednesday,' by Camilla Engman
YOU CAN FEEL the craving in Camilla Engman’s work, but also the sense that something is just about to come true. And perhaps that is also the sister story of Engman: A sister to two brothers but not to another girl child, Camilla finds her sisters along the path–in the connection with her audience, in the sisterhood of other artists, and in close sister-friends. “I think we are always looking for our sisters,” says the prolific Swedish artist and illustrator. “Someone who loves you even when you are ugly inside/outside. And someone who wants to follow you on your adventures.” [click to continue…]
by margaretroach on November 30, 2008
THE MOMENT WHEN something happens to a parent is a defining one among siblings, and not always in the easiest of ways. But when their mother broke a hip two years ago, Erica Berger, a professional photographer and three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, somehow created a silver lining for herself and younger brother, David, out of the circumstances.
It all began with a case of insomnia, and a box of old photos. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 22, 2008
'Charlotte and Her Imaginary Friend'
AMANDA BLAKE is a Portland, Oregon-based painter whose otherworldly visions of children and adults are at once full of wonder and inherently grounded. You feel like you might be able to walk into the worlds she paints, you might know the people—but what would you find when you arrived? Her work mixes mysterious and normal in a way that felt very special to the sisters of TSP. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 21, 2008
'Growing Woman'
C UBAN-BORN ARTIST Elsa Mora creates intricate, often profound, sometimes whimsical papercuts, paintings, drawings and sculptures. When we first saw Elsita’s art, we were stunned by the way it spoke to the deep feelings we have for our sisters, our mothers and our children, and the way we each relate to the natural world.
We had to know where she finds her inspiration, but it wasn’t until we reached out to Elsita that we learned that it was her older sister, Ileana, we sensed in certain images, a sibling still living but lost to Elsita a decade ago in the complex tangle of schizophrenia. “She was my mentor,” says Elsita, but as Ileana’s illness progressed, there was always this acute awareness, too: “We had to deal with the possibility of her going away forever all the time.” Love, with impending loss. A story of two sisters.
[click to continue…]
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