&nbsp;

Currently gracing&nbsp;<a href="https://whitebeararts.org/about-wbca">White Bear Center for the Arts</a> (WBCA) is an augmented reality exhibit by <a href="https://marlenamyl.es/about/">Marlena Myles</a> that invites visitors to take a step beyond mere spectatorship and become active participants and learners of indigenous culture and history.

Myles was invited by WBCA to create the exhibit as a part of their National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read Program. The <a href="https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/nea-big-read">NEA Big Read</a> &mdash; in partnership with Arts Midwest &mdash; aims to leverage &ldquo;the power of a shared reading experience&hellip;to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in each community.&rdquo;&nbsp;

This is WBCA&rsquo;s second year in a row receiving an NEA Big Read grant. This year their collaborators include local libraries, the Mahtomedi Garden Club, the American Society of Botanical Artists, Many Faces of White Bear Lake, and Century College.

Each grantee selects a book from the Big Read list; WBCA chose Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay. Creative Services Director Sara Nephew says the choice reflects the city&rsquo;s community of farmers and growers.

&ldquo;The White Bear Lake and NE Metro are home to a variety of gardens, local farms, and orchards,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude encourages readers to consider what it means to be someone who not only cultivates food and flowers but also memories and connections with others.&rdquo;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/22fd93af-fbf4-4be5-8f62-7c4885303dee/22fd93af-fbf4-4be5-8f62-7c4885303dee.full.jpg" /><img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/a0ed3ff5-1e55-4673-9db8-4254d3bdba79/a0ed3ff5-1e55-4673-9db8-4254d3bdba79.full.jpg" />

Top: Volunteers passing out books at WBCA&#39;s NEA Big Read kick-off event. Photo courtesy of WBCA. Bottom:&nbsp;Ross Gay&#39;s <a href="https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/JLNve306Kiq2lSLm0kTZHg" target="_blank">Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude</a>.

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With themes of love, grief, food, seeds, and the natural world, Nephew hopes that by engaging in conversations inspired by the book, deeper connections are formed between &ldquo;local growers, neighbors, and the land beneath our feet.&rdquo;&nbsp;She believes that by engaging in a collective reading experience, participants gain valuable connection skills.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We grow when we read and share our perspectives and personal stories with others,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The more we read, the more skills we develop such as critical thinking, effective communication, empathy, and cultural awareness.&rdquo;

Marlena Myles&rsquo; exhibit is a fusion of her lived experiences as a Dakota person and her interpretation of Ross Gay&rsquo;s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. Motivated by the lack of education about Minnesota&rsquo;s history as Dakota Homelands and about Dakota Peoples, Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee)&nbsp;uses art to teach how significant the land is to the Dakota people via various mediums &mdash; Dakota land maps, murals, and augmented reality installations.

&ldquo;I grew up and I didn&rsquo;t see anything that showed that this was Dakota Homelands,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I lived in Little Earth, which is a Native American urban community in Minneapolis, and I attended Four Winds, which is a Native magnet school. And outside of those areas, I never really saw anything that showed that this is where Dakota people originated from&hellip; we cannot continue not telling correct histories and not letting Native people tell our stories.&rdquo;&nbsp;

In telling Dakota history, Myles employs augmented reality in her art because of its ability to draw people together, into nature. She witnessed the rise of Pok&eacute;mon GO in 2016, and while she herself didn&rsquo;t play, she was inspired by how it created connections amongst communities.&nbsp;

&ldquo;They were going outside&hellip;they were having a good time. They were sharing what they were doing&hellip; It brought them out of their house into their neighborhoods&hellip;and I think it was sort of building community through participation in this game,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;

Myles also realized that augmented reality would allow her access to spaces that would usually require permits or land deeds to use as part of art installations.

&ldquo;I saw that people would have to go to random places like a gym or a grocery store or a library [and the Pok&eacute;mon GO developers] didn&rsquo;t need permission to put this little character where they&#39;re putting them,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;It kind of inspired me&hellip; Native people, we had our land stolen from us and a lot of our sacred sites we don&#39;t have ownership of, but our stories are still there. Our connection is still there. So augmented reality allows me to tell those stories without needing permission.&rdquo;&nbsp;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/f8df7768-44f5-44d6-b4f5-fb6a6c4c2b87/f8df7768-44f5-44d6-b4f5-fb6a6c4c2b87.full.jpg" />

<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/b1fc5a74-56bc-497a-a8c8-2acaf00e09a3/b1fc5a74-56bc-497a-a8c8-2acaf00e09a3.full.jpg" />

Top: Marlena Myles, Bear&rsquo;s Lodge, 2023.&nbsp;Adobe Aero.&nbsp;The teacher of medicine, Mahto the bear, welcomes you into his home, which is reflected above us in the Dakota night sky as Mahto tipi, the bear&#39;s lodge (aka Gemini constellation). Bottom: A visitor using their phone to experience the exhibition. Photo courtesy of WBCA.

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This value and incorporation of outdoor space is present in her exhibit at WBCA, which lives on its outdoor campus. Walking along the paths and through the garden, visitors learn from the land as traditionally it&rsquo;s been done. As Myles put it &ldquo;augmented reality just allows me to teach traditionally using modern tech.&rdquo;&nbsp;

One of Myles&rsquo; installations is called Thunder Being&rsquo;s Horse. This particular installation was one already brewing in her mind, so when she read the poem &ldquo;Becoming a Horse&rdquo; in Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, it resonated deeply with her.&nbsp;

&ldquo;To Dakota people&hellip;it represents movement and freedom, and we see the horse as a relative&hellip;and [the speaker] talks about touching the horse, looking into its eyes and then just becoming the horse&hellip;being able to see through the eyes of another animal.&rdquo; This concept, she notes, holds deep significance in Native cultures, where such practices were employed to gain knowledge and spiritual power.

&ldquo;And so that poem to me showed how the author had found peace by divorcing themselves and embracing how the horse sees&hellip;to me I felt that&#39;s exactly how Native people, indigenous people relate to horses as a relative, as something that we can learn from, that helps us reconnect and stay as part of the sacred hoop of nature.&rdquo;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/84c9d550-acc7-49a4-9e18-bea7c32be244/84c9d550-acc7-49a4-9e18-bea7c32be244.full.jpg" />

Marlena Myles,&nbsp;Thunder Being&rsquo;s Horse, 2023. Adobe Aero.&nbsp;Every year Dakota people celebrate the return of Wakinyan, the thunder being, who makes up the plant nation of Unci Makha, Grandmother Earth.

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The result of this profound connection between poem and artist is an immersive augmented reality experience. The installations have an ethereal air about them &mdash; you have no choice but to simultaneously hold both the truths of our histories and the realities of our present. That is the magic of augmented reality. Whereas virtual reality isolates you from the real world and places you in an artificial environment, augmented reality supplements your physical world. In this case, our walk through the garden is enhanced by vibrant artwork, sound, music, and spoken word.

Each installation is introduced by a sign with a QR code. The signs also contain educational information; for example, the installation Medicine Bear informs visitors about Dakota beliefs about Mahto (bear).&nbsp;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/555c107a-6e88-43fe-a880-a7f77d4f124d/555c107a-6e88-43fe-a880-a7f77d4f124d.full.jpg" />

Marlena Myles,&nbsp;Medicine Bear, 2023. Adobe Aero.&nbsp;Dakota people believe Mahto (bear) is the chief healer among animals because of his knowledge of medicine plants &amp; his ability to use these to heal himself and others.

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While talking about this particular installation, Myles explains how White Bear Lake got its name: &ldquo;One of the [Dakota] stories is that they saw a white bear, and the bear to us is the chief healer. So the bear naturally knows what roots to dig up, what plants to eat. And so we say we learned all about medicine plants from the bear, and the white, it meant like a spiritual purity that this bear had. So that&#39;s why we remember it by naming that lake after that.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&ldquo;Native people, we didn&#39;t have a written language prior to the arrival of Europeans. And so a lot of our storytelling was through oral traditions&hellip; looking at an object or a landscape or a plant or an animal, and recalling the stories that we connect to it.&rdquo;&nbsp;

These oral traditions form a bridge between the past and present, where the natural world and its inhabitants are imbued with profound meaning, echoing through generations.

She likens it to apps on a phone. &ldquo;You look at all these icons, you know what they are, and you click it, it opens up something, it opens up your photos, opens up memories, it opens up an app. So it&#39;s kind of like when I look at a plant and I know the medicine uses or the storytelling about how and why it has its colors or its special forms &mdash; all of that comes through.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Her hope is that visitors will recall what they read while experiencing her exhibit and &ldquo;it becomes embedded in them as oral traditions.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Next time they look at the horse, they might try to look through the horse&#39;s eye or your pets or anyone you know, and that I think leads to us looking at other humans, like how do you see the world?&rdquo;&nbsp;

That way of thinking is the goal of the NEA Big Read, as the WBCA frames it, to broaden &ldquo;our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience.&rdquo; This exhibit and the program are a testament to how even digital art can reshape our understanding of the natural world around us.&nbsp;◼︎&nbsp;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/e9a41679-89d7-4716-9d2e-d8de7833a628/e9a41679-89d7-4716-9d2e-d8de7833a628.full.jpg" />

Marlena Myles,&nbsp;Medicine Bear, 2023. Adobe Aero.

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Marlena Myles&rsquo; exhibit will be on view at <a href="https://whitebeararts.org/augmented-reality/" target="_blank">White Bear Center for the Arts</a> through November 18. See more of the artist&#39;s work at&nbsp;her website&nbsp;<a href="https://marlenamyl.es" target="_blank">marlenamyl.es</a>, or follow her on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mylesdesigns/" target="_blank">@mylesdesigns</a>.

All artwork images courtesy of the artist.

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Upcoming WBCA Big Read Events:&nbsp;

Perennial &amp; Medicinal Herb Talk with Pete Weiden

Tuesday, October 17,&nbsp;7 &ndash;&nbsp;8:30pm

&nbsp;

Book Club Discussions

Thursday, October 20, 6:30pm

Location: Washington County Library, Wildwood Branch

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Tuesday, October 25, 1pm

Location: Century College

&nbsp;

Thursday, November 9, 2pm

Location: Ramsey County Library

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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.&nbsp;<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/mocks/mrac-legacy-logos.png" width="778" />

As part of White Bear Center for the Arts' NEA Big Read Program, Myles reframes AR as a radical tool for connection to land and history

Augmented Reality at WBCA: Marlena Myles' Journey into Indigenous Wisdom and Heritage

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I had the honor of meeting with a crew of people from Textile Center including Chloe Russell Chang, the Education Associate; Deb Reierson, Master Gardener; and Ceci Lewis, an instructor and natural dye expert. Each of them holds an abundance of information surrounding plants, natural dye processes, and community access to the textile arts.

We started the conversation by noting significant barriers to gardening including:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>
	Geographical location with&nbsp;Minnesota&rsquo;s shorter growing season
	</li>
	<li>
	Free time dedicated towards tending a garden
	</li>
	<li>
	Indoor and outdoor space to start seeds and grow plants
	</li>
</ul>

From there the conversation blossoms into what I imagine is only a snippet of their collective knowledge.

<hr />
&nbsp;

Nicole Thomas: Tell us about your garden.

Chloe Russell Chang: <a href="https://textilecentermn.org/dyegarden/">Textile Center&rsquo;s A Garden To Dye For</a> started as an educational garden &mdash; as far as I understand &mdash; and now it&rsquo;s transitioning into this functional garden that supports our class schedules in the summer and fall. It has taken a lot of coordination between Deb and Ceci to help it be functional as well as showcasing a wide, wide variety of plants.

The volunteers that we&#39;ve been working with have direct access to Deb&#39;s knowledge as a master gardener. Volunteers are also offered opportunities to use the dye garden that they&#39;re helping with, such as foraging plants that are in season and plants that we aren&#39;t directly using for classes right away.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

NT: I&rsquo;m interested in what we talked about with location. Are there only certain varieties or species for natural dyeing that are available in Minnesota?

Deb Reierson: Yes, there are a lot of plants that just will not overwinter here. Not only is there a short season, but they just won&rsquo;t live through the winter. Some of the plants will drop seeds that will come up the next year. Germination varies from species to species, and it depends on the kind of winter we have, as well. We had a lot of snow last winter, so a lot of plants lived. Right now we&rsquo;re trying to transition the garden so it requires less maintenance, like more perennials and fewer labor intensive annuals. To provide a variety of color to both make a beautiful garden and useful garden for dyers, there are some plants that need to be started indoors in the spring.

Ceci Lewis: About the Dye Garden at Textile Center &mdash;&nbsp;Labor intensive is the word. All I did for 3 years was dig out weeds and then put some indigo in there. I dug out vine weed and Queen Anne&rsquo;s lace, an invasive species to Minnesota. There were also a lot of madder roots there, which we used in a red dye class.

It&rsquo;s important to study what is invasive to the particular area you live in, because there are people in the West planting Woad and they&rsquo;re not supposed to do that.

DR: Yeah, when we&#39;re just talking about natural dyes you have to research. There&#39;s a lot of invasive species that are wonderful dyes. You just don&#39;t want to plant them in your garden because you can go out and forage for them on public land.

CRC: A lot of the native plants for Minnesota are also forageable and in the fall we&rsquo;ll have a <a href="https://textilecentermn.org/product/bike-forage-dye/">bike, forage, and dye class</a>. Folks will start out by biking along the Greenway collecting forageable dye materials and then end up with their bicycles back at Textile Center. They will use what they foraged in the dye lab. Certain plants &mdash; we don&#39;t even need to plant more. Like Goldenrod, it just shows up. Same with milkweed and sumac and all of that. They&#39;ll just be readily available for that class.

CL: I think it&rsquo;s important to revisit the issue of small spaces and lack of time. One of the things I always tell people is that what we have is community. And we don&rsquo;t always pay attention to it. There are places I&rsquo;ve driven past with literal fields of marigolds that these homeowners plant year after year. It&#39;s gorgeous. When you don&rsquo;t have the space or the time, but you have this deep interest, you can gently approach that person when you see them outside working. Let them know how you appreciate what they have done. Let them know that you&#39;re into natural dying, that you&#39;ve been told that people have to deadhead this stuff, and that you would be a very happy recipient of deadheaded flowers. Which you can then use to dye, and you should return with a gift for that person. It might just be a little silk scarf or bandana or something.

We live in a community. And there shouldn&#39;t be anybody here who doesn&#39;t have access. That&#39;s how we stop being strangers to one another.&nbsp;

CRC: Honestly, part of the care of the dye garden at Textile Center involves continued deadheading and maintenance, which is something that is really helpful to us. We can&#39;t always keep up with the amount of blooms and output from the garden. That&rsquo;s something we offer to volunteers and we&#39;d be really open to that if people wanna come help us out and then leave with deadheaded items. We would love to get to know people who live nearby and want to experience the garden here before planting their own or just as a curiosity. Even if it&#39;s just for a day or so as an experience.

&nbsp;

<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/9bdd5fac-0ba6-41c8-937f-62b6c26f19a4/9bdd5fac-0ba6-41c8-937f-62b6c26f19a4.full.jpg" />Volunteers planting indigo in the garden, image courtesy of Chloe Russell Chang.

NT: I&rsquo;m curious if you&rsquo;ve noticed any differences between natural dyes and synthetic dyes?

CL: The word &ldquo;art&rdquo; is serious here because one of the things that we get out of our dye garden is pigment. What can you do with pigment? You can make art in lots of different ways beyond just on cloth.

I do not work for these people. I&#39;m not getting paid, but I would tell anybody quite honestly to get the book <a href="https://textilecenter.library.site/resources/detail/34323-34323_OPAC_v1_Coll-S_31d802a8-9ed0-4215-bee8-f73126b9dc7c/2?facets=" target="_blank">The Art and Science of Natural Dyes: Principles, Experiments, and Results</a>. This book is worth its weight in gold. You can learn from indigo to many other dyes. From getting stuff out of your yard to buying commercially. This is the most concentrated book and will also help you save money.

CRC: It looks like we have 3 copies of this book in the library at Textile Center if people want to come look through it. Textile Center&rsquo;s <a href="https://textilecenter.library.site" target="_blank">Pat O&rsquo;Connor Library</a> is open to the public, for walk-in perusal. Textile Center members may check out books to take home, too.

DR: The wonderful thing about natural dye versus synthetic dye is there&#39;s a real subtlety to them. I mean people started to gravitate toward synthetic dyes to get some really brilliant pigments. Sometimes you want that. But you know some of the subtleties of natural dyes and the softness sometimes can just be so welcoming and warm. I think there are so many things you can do with them.

CRC: It&#39;s a way to eliminate waste as well, like using leftover food items that you wouldn&#39;t necessarily find edible, you know, husks and things from various plants that were used for cooking. There are a lot of plants which are edible and create dye in tandem. It&#39;s like part of using the whole plant.

CL: Last fall I poured the indigo out of two&nbsp;drums that were down in my basement. My basement is too cold in the winter for the dye to turn without me heating it. So it just lay fallow down there. I didn&#39;t do anything to it except put essential oil on the top of it, because it would get moldy. I didn&rsquo;t stir or tend it at all over the winter. And just yesterday, all I did to it was put a whole bunch of pickling lime in each one to bring it up between ph11 and 12. I stirred it up real good from the bottom. I came back four hours later and it was reduced. That&rsquo;s really durable. I have an iron vat down there that I&rsquo;ve had probably since 2015 and all I have to do is tune it up.

It&rsquo;s also a lot less harmful. The hydro sulfide that is used to reduce synthetic indigo smells like outhouse because it&rsquo;s off gassing sulfur. It just stinks. It&rsquo;s not good for you to breathe, but it&rsquo;s so efficient! You pour that stuff in the vat, and it&rsquo;s ready in 10 minutes.

CRC: If you were curious about witnessing the differences for yourself, we do a fresh indigo class which Ceci teaches at the end of the season, in the late fall. We also sell a synthetic indigo kit in the shop.

It&#39;s a take home kit that includes a plant and you do a guided fresh indigo leaf dying process in your own home without any chemicals with just ice and water, the indigo leaves, and the substrate of your choice. We also have a $15 or $20 <a href="https://textilecentermn.org/product/kits/">synthetic indigo kit</a> in the shop and that&#39;s something that you could make a really direct comparison with in terms of the properties of each dye material, the range of colors, what reactions happen, and what you&#39;re seeing in front of your own eyes.

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/244a50bf-bcfc-4598-b906-150127334c16/244a50bf-bcfc-4598-b906-150127334c16.full.jpg" />

Ceci Lewis during a fresh leaf indigo class last year, image courtesy of Chloe Russell Chang.

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NT: Anything else you&rsquo;d like to add?

CRC: If folks are interested in learning directly from Ceci Lewis about natural dye processes, she can be requested as an instructor for a Make + Take class in our dye lab. If folks would like to learn from Deb&rsquo;s gardening expertise either this year, or in the spring, they can sign up to be a dye garden volunteer using this <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScR6RRHcSEG0LPwtTLHYcMnJz-VnEEZNTIpeoTL1Jmk1Uagtw/viewform?usp=sf_link">Google form</a> or email me!&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

<hr />
&nbsp;

Shortly after this interview I experimented with my own swatches of fabric with foraged plants in preparation for a workshop with children. It was exciting to use household items in my kitchen and learn the chemistry behind natural dyeing.

This interview was edited for brevity, but I highly recommend visiting Textile Center. They provide a variety of accessible resources for those interested in both gardening and natural dyeing.&nbsp;◼︎&nbsp;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/abc13298-7894-4e9b-a8f7-c9223d1a1c11/abc13298-7894-4e9b-a8f7-c9223d1a1c11.full.jpg" />

Craft Night: Dye Garden Harvest in August, image courtesy of Chloe Russell Chang.

To learn more, visit <a href="https://textilecentermn.org" target="_blank">textilecentermn.org</a>, sign up for <a href="https://textilecentermn.org/adult-education/classes/" target="_blank">a class</a>,&nbsp;or follow them on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/textilecentermn/" target="_blank">@textilecentermn</a>.

Banner image:&nbsp;Deb Reierson with a bandana that was dyed using soil from the garden (dorozome method), image courtesy of Chloe Russell Chang.

<hr />
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.&nbsp;<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/mocks/mrac-legacy-logos.png" width="778" />

A conversation with three experts on natural dyes, invasive species, and how foraging can build community

Artists and Gardens: Textile Center

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There is a painting in Madison Rubenstein&rsquo;s solo exhibition <a href="https://www.mplsart.com/events/too-much-madison-rubenstein" target="_blank">Too Much</a> titled Correcting Flesh and Banishing Ghosts, a phrase that comes from one of their poems showcased alongside their paintings. The title encapsulates the thematic structure of their exhibition &mdash; a series of paintings and poems that rub against, and alongside, familial histories, disabled embodiment, and identity.&nbsp;

Rubenstein, who was also recently named one of nine recipients of the 2023 <a href="https://artsmidwest.org/update/9-artists-receive-the-2023-midwest-award-for-artists-with-disabilities/" target="_blank">Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities</a>, invited me to their studio ahead of the exhibition to discuss their new body of work. In our conversation, we talked about how the meaning of the title Too Much lives in the series of the work, as well as embodies much of Rubenstein&rsquo;s personal experiences within their own body. In front of us, as we speak in the studio, is the painting Correcting Flesh and Banishing Ghosts in progress, which features a nude figure standing in the middle of the composition, rendered in a transparent gray tone as the lush wash of pink pigment of the background overtakes them. Two figures float around the lone figure at its legs, one painted in a deep, vibrating red, the other in a soft, dark blue.&nbsp;

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<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/ef4da60c-a65c-436e-9cbb-e78b7cd002e6/ef4da60c-a65c-436e-9cbb-e78b7cd002e6.full.jpg" />

Madison Rubenstein, Correcting Flesh and Banishing Ghosts, oil on canvas.

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I am drawn to the way Rubenstein has rendered the figure standing in the middle of the composition, arms splayed out, grasping at nothing but the gentle pink wash that fills the background. The figure&rsquo;s feet are visually planted by a deep violet shadow, but the physical pose of the feet suggest an imbalance that will lead to an inevitable fall. As Rubenstein and I speak, this painting leads our conversation together, its remarkable physicality becoming a visual metaphor for experiences of chronic illness, disability, their Jewish heritage, and identity. The play in this piece between an imminent fall and a ghostly presence that either holds the figure up or threatens to knock them down speaks to the contradictions about which the artist often makes work. We speak about our mutual experiences of chronic illness, the rhythms of flare ups and rest (that often consists of waiting for the next flare up). This rhythm is abstractly represented within this piece &mdash; and the others in the show &mdash; by the physicality that overtakes the figure.&nbsp;

There is an implication of multiple selves, the fragmentation of the body and self that happens when physical embodiment impacts identity, whether it be in pain, dysphoria, or unconsciousness. The two figures painted in blue and red could suggest other selves or past relatives, even unremembered personal histories &mdash; in other words, any ghost that could haunt our present. The main figure, however, is largely transparent, while the red figure is rendered at some parts very solidly. The tension between absence and presence within these figures emphasize this fragmentation, each figure fluctuating between solid and transparent, fading away and emerging. This speaks to the presence of the ghosts in the title of the piece &mdash; and perhaps how impossible it can be to banish them.&nbsp;

When we talked about the history of self in their work and how it relates to this show, Rubenstein mentions how their Jewish heritage comes through in the recent body of work. There is a lack of concrete familial history for Rubenstein, which they seek to become in touch with through the representation of their own body and creating space for themself to imagine what that history could be. This is a way of looking into the past to create a reality for yourself &mdash; the use of abstraction to imagine something that may not exist in the present. In other works in the exhibition, small bits and pieces of the figure appear in the midst of constricting, jagged, and swallowing forms. The figurative element is overtaken by abstract elements, drowning in excess paint and mark-making.

&nbsp;

<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/65dffca5-a163-4c57-8c42-3d6af6f4802f/65dffca5-a163-4c57-8c42-3d6af6f4802f.full.jpg" />

<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/b6b82c25-c481-4e72-a6e9-591eff6cdc26/b6b82c25-c481-4e72-a6e9-591eff6cdc26.full.jpg" />Top: Madison Rubenstein, A Murder of Misunderstandings, oil on canvas. Bottom: The artist in their studio holding Marking Time,&nbsp;gouache, acrylic, and graphite on Arches paper.

The title of the exhibition touches on this feeling of being overwhelmed: Too Much encapsulates the physical experience of illness, but it also reflects upon criticism that one may receive. A request for more time or an accommodation could be labeled as &ldquo;too much&rdquo; by an impatient or inconsiderate coworker, friend, or colleague. One could be labeled &ldquo;too much&rdquo; for being too loud, too brazen or too anything. It is this phrase that inspired a body of work about celebrating being &ldquo;too much,&rdquo; and revealing how much work and vulnerability it takes to get there. It takes a huge amount of strength to be the one asking for help, and when that request is met by being called &ldquo;too much,&rdquo; it can be extremely painful.

The most enlightening thing from our conversation is perhaps the most simple: their color choices, the physicality of their paint, their subject matter &mdash; they choose to paint this way because it makes them happy. It provides them with a more livable life. The artistic expression of chronic pain and difficult experiences becomes an essential tool to improve their quality of life. The colors they paint with make them happy, helping to create a visual and emotional language to express experiences for which people often don&rsquo;t have language. Other people will find this joy, too, as I was lucky enough to experience in Rubenstein&rsquo;s studio in front of this painting. When we create from a place of wanting to make our life more enjoyable and livable, from a place of desire and survival, we create work that creates those vital links for other people in our community. ◼︎&nbsp;

<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/FileContainers/d718ee6d-8d11-43f9-a3d0-aacb36471cf0/d718ee6d-8d11-43f9-a3d0-aacb36471cf0.full.jpg" />The artist in their studio.

<a href="https://www.mplsart.com/events/too-much-madison-rubenstein" target="_blank">Too Much</a> is on view <a href="mailto:mrubenstein.info@gmail.com?subject=Too%20Much%20viewing%20appointment">by appointment</a> at <a href="https://www.eyengabokambapaintings.com/future-tense-gallery-copy" target="_blank">Future Tense Gallery</a> in the California Building (studio #310, operated by artist Eyenga Bokamba) through October 5, with a closing reception that evening from&nbsp;6 &ndash;&nbsp;8pm.&nbsp;

To see more of the artist&#39;s work, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.madisonelyserubenstein.com" target="_blank">madisonelyserubenstein.com</a> or follow them on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_rubenstein/" target="_blank">@_rubenstein</a>.

All images courtesy of the artist. 
&nbsp;

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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.&nbsp;<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/mplsart-cdn-central/mocks/mrac-legacy-logos.png" width="778" />

A solo exhibition of paintings addresses disability, lineage, and identity — as well as the pleasure to be found in paint

The best local art.

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