QUEENS: PORTRAIT & CIRCUMSTANCE
A new collection of work, Queens: Portrait & Circumstance, will be available for public viewing Saturday September 7th from 5pm – 9pm at BIJOUX in downtown San Francisco. But first:
I’m writing this journal entry from Cove Park, an arts residency center located on the beautiful Rosneath peninsula in Scotland’s west coast, about an hour northwest of Glasgow. Aside from being a spectacular city in its own right, it is my father’s birthplace and where he lived until he left to join the British Merchant Marines at the age of sixteen. He’d have a good laugh knowing that I’ve been here three times in the past 2 years, when he did so much to see the world and ultimately settle in the States. I will write more about Scotland and how the sense of place impacts my work another day, but right now I’m here to tell you about the upcoming get-together for Queens!
The Queens project started with a photograph taken during an artist residency in Sanquhar, Scotland, which is a town visited by Mary Queen of Scots in 1568 after her army’s defeat at Langside by the Protestant uprising. It’s hard to imagine that an aging, wrought-iron circular staircase could be the catalyst for so many hours of research and art making over two years, but alas, here we are. My first queens appeared in the Non-Archival show at Venus & Victory in 2023, followed by a version of Mary Queen of Scots for a London Underground campaign in March of this year, and has expanded and evolved into this current collection. With lots more research material already gathered and in various states of development, I believe there is more to come!
Thanks to the generosity of Paul Laxton, owner/operator of BIJOUX, and to the constant support and curatorial vision of Venus & Victory’s David Reposar, I am honored to share this work with the clientele of BIJOUX through early October. I hope you can join us for the only public viewing of Queens…
Portrait & Circumstance: comfort comes at a cost.
BIJOUX Saturday Sept. 7th 5-9pm
391 Sutter Street, Suite 308 San Francisco, California 94108
Bijoux Salon is located on Sutter Street near the corner of Stockton Street. It is 4 blocks from the Montgomery Street BART station and is served by the 2, 8, 30 and 45 Muni bus lines.
Image: Persian Queen Fawzia in progress and final framed collage in center