Mixed Media Work by Lori K. Gordon

2010-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

LORI K. GORDON

Lori K. Gordon was born in the Northern Plains, and spent her childhood on the prairies of eastern South Dakota. As a teen, she began moving west and then south, living for years in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the high desert of Arizona. Along the way, she picked up a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in religious studies, all the while pursuing her love of art. She has traveled extensively in the United States, painting and drawing her way from the west to east coasts, and from Canada to Mexico. In 1991 she made the Mississippi Gulf Coast her home. Largely self taught, Gordon works in many medias including graphite, fabric, acrylic, handmade paper and polymer clay. She is especially fond of collage and assemblage work, and introduced her first mixed media series in 2000. Three years later, one of her pieces was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for inclusion into their permanent collection. “Labat: A Creole Legacy” is an eight by ten foot fabric collage which tells the story, in images and text, of the life of a Bay St. Louis Creole woman who died in 2002 at the age of 104.
In 2003 Gordon began capturing the local landscapes of her beloved Mississippi Gulf Coast in acrylic, and continued that work until Hurricane Katrina upended her life on August 29, 2005. With her home, studio and all of her supplies washed away by the 43 foot storm surge and 150 mile per hour winds which obliterated her community, Gordon returned to work using the only materials which were available to her. Five weeks after the event, Gordon began collecting rubble and transforming it into works of art. “The Katrina Collection” has been featured by MSNBC, CBS, National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press, Art Gulf Coast, South Mississippi Living, and in dozens of newspapers around the nation. The artist has been featured in several documentaries as well, including Art of the Storm, the award-winning Mississippi Son, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Mississippi Roads and Southern Expressions. Collectors of her work include President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, ESPN announcer Jon Miller, singer Faith Hill, Los Angeles producer Don Wilson, and Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts. In addition to the Smithsonian, public collections which have acquired her work include Mississippi Humanities Council, Katrina Research Center, University of Virginia, University of Southern Mississippi, William J Clinton Foundation and Thea Foundation’s Art Across Arkansas, Seattle’s Safeco Corporate Collection, Hancock Medical Center, Katrina Museum, and Alice Moseley Museum. Gordon has exhibited her work around the nation, and pieces of the series may be found in Europe and Asia as well as across the United States.
While Gordon continues creating in The Katrina Collection, she has begun work in several new series. The Reliquary Series, which debuted in Mississippi in January of 2008, is another collection of mixed media assemblages which focuses on images of the sacred. Most recently, the artist has been creating collages on canvas which combine photography, digital imagery, acrylics and handmade paper. These collages are gleaned from photos taken by the artist in Turkey, Cyprus and various locations in the United States. In January 2010, Gordon released a new collection of mixed media pieces which she calls “Found Object Mosaics.”
Gordon is currently represented by Work of Art in Gulfport, MS and in Madisonville, LA; Gallery 220 in Bay St Louis, MS; Sumner & Dene Gallery in Albuquerque, NM; and Brown’s Fine Art in Jackson, MS. Her work may be seen on her website at www.lorikgordon.org, and a complete bio may be found online at Wikipedia. Tours of her studio may be arranged and the artist may be reached at lorikgordon@gmail.com. To see more of Gordon's work, please click on the links located on the upper right section of this page. To watch a 20-minute film on Gordon and her work, scroll down.

Film on the Work of Lori K. Gordon

2010-10-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is a twenty minute film on the work of Lori K. Gordon. It focuses on The Katrina Collection and the Labat Project.

2010-10-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Unless marked "SOLD", all pieces are available for purchase. Please email me for prices:
lorikgordon@gmail.com

2010-08-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

This is a piece called "Tree of Life" which I created for Dr. Stanley Hartness and his wife Beth. Beth gave me a tub full of old medical instruments from her husband;s collection and asked me to create something with them. It was a bit of a daunting assignment but i was very leased with the result, as were they.

2010-05-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Chinese Landscape was created from an old frame, handmade paper, chopsticks, Chinese coins, a Chinese newspaper, wallpaper and acrylic paint.

2010-05-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Pocket Icons. I made a series of these little treasures, in different colors and shapes. They are created from paperclay forms I made of the Virgin of Guadalupe, wood forms, acrylic paint and nails. Although they are too large to fit in your pocket (and the nails would be a bit uncomfortable!), I wanted to indicate the small size -and the resulting small price. They are approximately 8-10 inches tall.

2010-05-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 1 was created from bottlecaps, two milagros, two pieces of salvaged wood, a church form and paperclay.

2010-05-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 2 was created from an old piece of wood, a salvaged picture frame, bottle caps, w ood form and paperclay.

2010-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 3 was created from two salvaged frames and a clay Virgin of Guadalupe from Mexico.

2010-05-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 4 was created from two pieces of wood, a salvaged frame, bottle caps, paperclay and a milagro.

2010-05-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 5 was created from a Mexican clay Virgin of Guadalupe, two salvaged frames and acrylic paint.

2010-05-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 6 was made from a wood frame, the lid to a box, two wood forms, bottle caps, and paperclay.

2010-05-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 7 was fashioned from a salvaged frame, a wood box, a metal turtle that barely survived Katrina, bottle caps, a wood church form and paperclay.

2010-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Guadalupe Icon 8 was created from a salvaged frame, salvaged board, and four pieces of clay.

2010-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Art Dolls are made from carved wood, polymer clay, acrylic paint, beads, and other odds and ends. They are approximately 8" or 9" tall, and are $25 each.

2010-03-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

The next few photographs are of wall art I call Spirit Dolls. The idea of spirit dolls can be found in cultures worldwide, and I come to my interest in them naturally via my background in the field of religious studies. They are made from paper clay, cloth, various trim, feathers, and sometimes small trinkets.The dolls are attached to cloth place mats that have been embellished with scraps of other fabrics. These single-doll pieces are approx. 12" x 17" and are $48-but be sure to scroll down to see the large spirit quilt.

2010-03-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Spirit Doll.

2010-03-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Detail, Spirit Doll.

2010-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Spirit Doll.

2010-03-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Spirit Quilt is 49" wide x 79" tall, and was created from a wonderfully warped quilt handmade by an artist in Texas. I added nine of my spirit dolls which were fastened to cloth place mats enhanced with assorted scraps of fabric, trims, and feathers. Four fabric birds, dressed up in their Sunday best, decorate the center area, and wood beads and glass amulets from Istanbul which are said to ward off the evil eye weigh down the bottom of the quilt. This is a wonderfully bold and vibrant piece, and needs a good size portion of wall to support it.

2010-03-13T13:06:00.001-08:00

2010-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Anasazi SOLD

2010-01-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

"Found Object Mosaics" is a brand new series of work created in the waning days of 2009 and the first week of 2010. Influenced by the breathtaking mosaics of Turkey and Cyprus, I have found a new obsession in the creation of these pieces. Many contain bits of Katrina debris from my still-overflowing barn/studio. For availability and prices of the following pieces, please email me at lorikgordon@gmail.com.

2010-01-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

Shaman II

2010-01-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

New Orleans Saint SOLD

2010-01-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

Winged Creatures SOLD

2010-01-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya V

2010-01-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

Grotto in Yavapai SOLD

2010-01-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

Blue Grotto

2010-01-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

Tree of Life

2010-01-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

Looking for Leon

2010-01-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Hand x 3

2010-01-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

Retablo

2009-12-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya IV. Ceramic tile and decorative metal from the Ayasofia, polymer clay, stone tile, wood frame, acrylic paint.

2009-12-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

You Do What You Can

2009-12-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

Opium Bottles SOLD

2009-12-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

Dia de los Muertos SOLD

2009-12-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya II SOLD

2009-12-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya I SOLD

2009-12-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Virgin of Guadalupe

2009-12-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

Fleur de Lis SOLD

2009-12-23T15:55:00.001-08:00

Aztec SOLD

2009-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya III SOLD

2009-12-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

Shaman SOLD

2009-12-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Trinity SOLD

2009-12-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

Ancient Symbols SOLD

2009-12-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

Red Bird

2009-07-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Maria

2009-07-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

2008-12-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Following is a new bunch of small pieces that are built around relief images in polymer clay. The icon pieces were made from molds I fashioned from brass icons; some contemporary and some 200 years old (Russian in origin). I surrounded them with various other elements, from damaged frames from Katrina debris piles to bits of ribbon and beads, They vary in size, but most are around 4" x 6", with a couple that are larger.

2008-12-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

Wax Icon SOLD

2008-12-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

Waldorf Astoria Flower

2008-12-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Virgin and Child, Blue and Gold SOLD

2008-12-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Icon in Standing Frame SOLD

2008-08-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

RELIQUARY: IMAGES OF THE SACRED

Reliquaries are repositories for relics or other sacred objects. In this series, I have interpreted the reliquary in both a traditional and an avant-garde fashion. Many pieces in the series revolve around Christian themes. For some of these pieces, I have started with carved wood Santos from Latin America. In others, I have used plaster statues which I either dug out of debris piles or purchased in New Orleans antique shops. I have also created some pieces which allude to what I call the “everyday sacred.” One of these pieces pays homage to our feline companions, and others point to our reverence for the natural environment.

I chose to debut the show on the eve of Epiphany and the beginning of the 2008 Mardi Gras season for its symbolic significance. Celebrated in cultures around the world, the date has special significance here on the Gulf Coast. Especially in light of the devastation of our coast by Hurricane Katrina, it seems important to celebrate the advent of a joyous season. This new series is also a natural extension of The Katrina Collection, my series of assemblages which uses storm debris as a metaphor for rebirth.

2008-08-01T08:54:00.002-07:00

Mary's Altar

2008-08-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

St Francis and Friends

2008-08-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Breadbowl Saint 3

2008-08-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Breadbowl Saint 1

2008-08-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

Nicosia Saint 4 SOLD

2008-07-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

I have begun creating some new pieces I am calling Amulet Series. The most basic definition of an amulet is something that attracts good and repels bad, and I have long been fascinated with the magic elements of different beliefs around the world. I have also long been a victim of bead lust; I can't get enough of the beautiful textures, shapes and colors of beads from around the world. By combining amulets on leather thongs and other wearable art pieces with wall art, I am able to indulge my enthrallment with all of these elements. In this series, each work has at least one neck piece which may be removed to be worn, then returned to again be wall art.

2008-07-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

"Yavapai" is another survivor, and is named after the area in Arizona where I was fortunate enough to live for several years. It is a mixed media construction with canvas, acrylic, leather, amber, and turquoise. It features two removable neckpieces with beads of turquoise and amber.

2008-07-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

Cochise started with the beautiful pendant which makes the "head" of the figure. I paired it with another gorgeous stone, on the second neck piece, and a carved Chinese pendant on the third one. Beads are of bauxite, acrylic, glass, wood, and bone. I added pieces of dyed cheesecloth, handmade paper, a fossil fragment, Chinese clay and a hand of polymer clay to complete the piece. 22" x 16"

2008-07-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Goddess was inspired by the metal pendant which hangs down with the beads, I repeated the shape in the torn paper that covers the plywood support. I used several handmade papers, and stamped them with gold text. Chinese coins support the leather, and a face of polymer clay was added. Beads on the amulet neck piece are of glass, brass, resin and metal. 13" x 10"

2008-07-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Novena was created from a printers traywithin which are nestled crosses, rosaries and other religious items including novenas printed up on paper, rolled up and painted. The wood Santo is mounted on a window guard. SOLD

2008-07-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Gothic Saint was created from a piece of plywood, a window guard, and a carved wood Santo.

2008-07-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

Our Lady of the Gulf. SOLD

2008-07-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

Breadbowl Saint 11. 33" x 33"

2007-12-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

St Francis of the Woods. My husband and I collaborated on this piece. Cairo is a very talented woodworker, and he carved the niche in the log , as well as the cross that graces the top. I designed the piece, painted the Santo, and carved the relief crosses in the bottom portion of the piece. 21" diameter and 28" tall. SOLD

2007-12-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

Buddha in Temple was made from an acrylic Buddha and three dimensional frame, painted plywood, forks, Chinese coins and beads of bone and recycled glass from Ghana. SOLD

2007-12-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

Sacred Heart was created from a wood Santo, a Mexican wood and metal cross, and a piece of painted plywood. 27" x 33" SOLD

2007-12-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Angel of Mercy was great fun to put together. I began with a series of tiles fashioned from polymer clay. I took the images from molds I had made from 200 year old Russian brass icons, and painted them with acrylics. They were glued to a support of mat board and plywood. I made the face and hands out of the clay also, and the body is an old tin ceiling tile that was liberated from pre-Katrina New Orleans. 12" x 14 1/2"

2007-12-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

Old Timers' Cafe came together so easily, it almost made itself. The support piece is the back of a foundry mold which I hauled back from Virgina. The old photos were picked up in an antique shop in Richmond, and the clock came from a junk store in this area, as did the wooden alphabet block. The rusty bottle cap and screen door hook are bits of Katrina debris from my backyard.

2007-12-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Biloxi harvest SOLD

2007-12-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Reliquary II. SOLD

2007-12-25T08:57:00.000-08:00

Buddha in a Temple SOLD

2007-12-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

Saint in a Niche SOLD

2007-12-25T08:55:00.000-08:00

Reliquary 1 SOLD

2007-12-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

Icon and Altar SOLD

2007-12-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Guadelupe Green. SOLD

2007-12-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

Four Crosses. SOLD

2007-12-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ave Maria. SOLD

2007-12-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

St Francis and Angel SOLD

2007-12-25T05:32:00.000-08:00

Mystic Doll features two necklaces which may be removed from the piece. The doll figure of the central necklace was purchased in a Fair Trade store; it was made in Africa. I added the beads for the hair. The other necklace has beads of glass and lapis chips, as well as glass charms. The support is made from paper I have painted, as well as handmade papers, mounted on a plywood support, and glass "beach stones". 21" x 12"

2007-12-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

"Ghost Shirt" is a mixed media construction which incorporates wood, leather, nails, seed pods, African carved and painted face, horsehair, tin cones, bovine teeth, and beads of bone, glass and shell, as well as African trade beads. It is inspired by the Ghost dance movement which swept the indigenous peoples of the Northern Plains in the late 1800s. The piece combines "wall art" with "wearable art" in that it features a removable neckpiece.

2007-10-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

Zodiac features three removable neck pieces. It was created from two pieces of plywood supports which were covered with a variety of hand made papers and coated with medium. The face of the figure was formed from polymer clay and painted with acrylics, and mounted on top of a brass crab which my friend Brenda recovered from her property after Katrina. The Body was once a tin ceiling tile that graced a house in pre-Katrina New Orleans. The arms are fragments of one of my bracelets which my husband found in the back almost a year after Katrina, and the leaves were taken from a smashed basket. The neck pieces include beads of stone, glass, and acrylic, as well as African brass kirdi beads and African trade beads, and a Chinese coin. 28" x 28" SOLD

2007-03-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Ghost Dance is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, one of the few pieces of art with which I evacuated. It is the first one of a series I did about the Ghost Dance phenomenon. Growing up in South Dakota, I was heavily influenced by the culture of the Plains Indians. My fascination with Native culture is apparent in much of my work, and especially in this series.

I began this piece with an unusually shaped scrap of iron I picked up in a salvage yard. I layered the metal with a thin silver piece of sheet metal, an oversized reproduction of an Indian Head penny, a cylindrical metal choker and another odd shaped piece of metal, a hoop of copper tubing and sheet metal copper cut in the shape of sun rays, two metal Turkish crosses, a bent fork, and copper flashing strips and nails. The beads are of stone, glass and ploymer clay, and the support for the piece is painted plywood.

The Ghost Dance was a phenomenon which swept the Western Native American communities in the late 1800s. It began when a Paiute prophet named Wovoka prophesied a nonviolent end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation. During a vision, Wovoka stated that he was given the Ghost Dance and commanded to bring it back to his people. He preached that if this five day dance was performed in the proper intervals, the performers would secure their happiness and hasten the reunion of the living and deceased. As the Ghost Dance spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs–often creating change in both the society that integrated it and the ritual itself.

The Lakota interpretation of Wovoka's message was drawn from the idea of a “renewed Earth” in which all evil was to be washed away, including the European presence on their homelands. By 1890, this seemed to be the only way out of a desperate situation, and the Ghost Dance began to be performed frequently among the Lakota. The dances alarmed many reservation officials, and troops US troops were called in to discourage the events. On December 28, a small band of Sioux erected their tipis on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek. The following day, US forces opened fire on the camp. When the fighting had concluded, 25 U.S. soldiers and 153 Lakota-mostly women and children- lay dead. The Massacre at Wounded Knee effectively ended the Ghost Dance phenomenon, and Native resistance on the Plains.

2007-03-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

"Fertility" is a piece which did not survive Katrina. I keep hoping that I will find one of the necklaces which graced this assemblage-especially the lower one, which was modeled after a fertility necklace from Nepal.

2007-03-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

"Lakota" was a mixed media construction which was built around a traditional, ceremonial "dance stick" of the Lakota people. It was comprised of wood, leather, trade cloth, copper, acrylic, buffalo teeth, feathers, and beads of glass and bone, including some old trade beads. It featured a removable neckpiece with beads of bone, glass, wood, and old African trade beads. Adios to this one too.

2007-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

"Mask"is another one that didn't make it through the storm. Haven't seen any part of this one, either.

2007-03-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

"Three Virtues of a Chinese Gentleman" was a mixed media construction which included handmade paper, wood, carved bone, turquoise, amber, African brass kirdi beads, Chinese coins, and sterling silver beads from Asia. It featured a removable neckpiece for personal adornment. It was another one of Katrina's victims.

2007-03-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

"Totem" is still with me. I evacuated with this one because it was one of my favorites, and it has been in storage ever since Katrina. It is a mixed media construction which includes trade cloth, burlap, turtle shell, pottery shards, old brass thimbles, Indian head pennies, feather, and beads of glass, turquoise and amber. Much of the inspiration for this piece comes from the Lakota culture of the Northern Plains. The turtle symbolized long life for the Lakota, and and the trade cloth, thimbles, and beads were important elements in the people's economic well being in the 1800s. It features a removable neckpiece for personal adornment.

2007-01-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

The Santo in Seventeen Crosses is mounted upon painted plywood and surrounded by crosses made of wood and polymer clay. A milagro rests upon the Santo's chest, and copper nails further embellish the piece. SOLD

2007-01-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Icon and Altar began with the small three paneled folding icon. I placed it on top of an altar fashioned from polymer clay, and nestled in a niche formed from a box salvaged from a Katrina debris pile. The support for the piece is plywood, and the small icons are of polymer clay. 15" x 19" x4" SOLD

2007-01-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Leda and the Swan. This piece was made from a beautiful ceramic tile from Cyprus, a fragment of a small drawer, and a slate roof tile from New Orleans. 11" x 15" SOLD

2007-01-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

Floral SOLD

2007-01-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

Angst of the Artist. I created this tongue-in-cheek piece for a fundraiser. Artists were supplied with a plywood mask form and asked to build a piece from that. I pretty much hid the mask behind feathers made from painted canvas, and attached a wood doll to the front. The doll represents the artist, offering her work to the viewer. Her wings represent her wish that her work soar, but behind the feathers, in the eye holes of the mask, are two polymer clay faces which reveal self-doubt and insecurity. I meant for this piece to poke fun at myself and other artists and in a larger sense, to help us to remember that while the creation of our art may be personally satisfying, it ain't a solution for world peace and it ain't a cure for cancer. SOLD

2007-01-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Virgin and Child in Ornate Frame SOLD

2007-01-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

Virgin and Child 2 SOLD

2007-01-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

Virgin and Child Icon SOLD