Alison Saar doesn't fuck around.
When I was younger I dreamt of becoming an Art Conservator. I stacked my courseload with as many Chemistry and Art classes that I could. I became obsessed with memorizing dates, periods and movments in Art History... and then I started oil painting. Seduced by the media and creative release of art-making I decided to put all my chips in and transfer to art school - best - decision - ever.
Art maintenance (conservation) sucks. Yet, it has to be done. I have spent the last couple weeks (and counting) working on performing "Art Surgery" on a couple of my larger paper-mache sculptures. Considering that it was my first time working with the media on such a large scale AND learning the process along the way - I figured at some point I would have to perform some repairs. There is something rather liberating about taking a Sawzall to your sculpture and knowing that it will be okay. You built it once, so this time it will be even stronger.