I am preparing to give a talk in a fiber arts course at LCC this month. Although I’ve spent plenty of time at the front of a classroom, I am typically engaging humans under 11 years of age (a notoriously accepting and enthusiastic bunch). In an effort to better prepare myself for the more discriminating gaze of the adult collective, I went yesterday, to Wendy Huhn’s talk in the same course. She is a fibers and mixed media artist who (unbeknownst to me, but oh so appropriate after last week’s angry mother incident) consistently uses disturbing, often confusing, and sometimes controversial images in her work. She eventually removed one piece from her LCC show last year after multiple students raised objections to her image of a “zulu baby”. Although I am not particularly drawn to her work, I was interested in what she had to say about her process and image choices. It got me thinking about the artists I am drawn to and influenced by. I’ve started reading up on a few of them and found “controversial” was a surprising thread connecting many of them. More to come in my next few blogs!