EMILY AND THE SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING

I came out of Covid wanting to make some changes, particularly in my workspace. That's when I saw Emily, who worked at another business in my building, sitting in her car at the end of the day and I asked her if she would be interested in some part-time work in my studio. 

All my dealers who could not open their doors for a year were anxious to exhibit new work. The race was on. I had three major one-person shows and four other exhibitions scheduled for the calendar year, just as I was developing a very labor-intensive way of working. ⁠

Meanwhile, Emily and I have started the "Swedish Death Cleaning"* at the studio that I have occupied for 45 years in anticipation of a series of summer exhibitions in that space. Emily’s parttime work soon stretched to nearly fulltime.

Happily, Emily and I worked in sync, rarely needing to talk or give directions. Once in a while, we danced or came up with another name for our garage band. My favorite was "Emily and the Stud Finders," named after the trusty tool we used to locate studs in the wall when we were hanging paintings. ⁠
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We filled several dumpsters, much to the consternation of the building supervisor. We broke down the freight elevator twice. Emily started shopping for a wardroom among the debris. My favorite piece was her foil dress.⁠
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I had a big birthday coming up. The one where I could no longer claim to be middle-aged and a celebration of my 45th year in the studio. It was going to be a rebirth of the space.⁠

The discarded canvases from the clean-up provided great underpainting for new work. They came from all periods of my work and were on both linen and canvas, painted in metallics or high key colors. There was quite a range. I was delighted to be repurposing these canvases as I felt that there was nothing to lose, I could play, experiment, and, if need be, destroy.⁠
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Perhaps because these were older works, there were elements in them that I started to freely add to the new pieces. From my thread paintings, I added lines. At other times, there were moments of pentimento, when I let the original piece peak through the new layers of paint.⁠
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I was very involved with the process and not so much in my head. As a rule, that's a good place for an artist to be.⁠
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I hung several of these pieces on my studio wall and headed home.

The next morning, I was surprised by what I found. I was overcome by ecstatic screaming, like a teeny bopper at a Beatles concert.

--Whoa, these paintings are good. But this is just hubris. What's the matter with you? Get a grip. --⁠
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Waves and waves of excitement and indescribable joy came over me. I had just barely quieted myself down when Emily walked in.⁠
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Unprompted by me, she, too, started to scream. I had never experienced anything like this.⁠
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Emily and I both recognized that this was not normal. We didn't know what it was. We couldn't stop looking at the paintings. We began to lose our balance. We clung to the edge of my painting table as though we were on a deck of a cruise ship during a storm.⁠
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When we left the room, we were OK. When we came back, the feeling bubbled up all over again. I was aware that this was not your average or even exceptional art reaction. I've been dumbstruck and moved to tears in front of a painting, but never anything like this. This reaction lasted 3 days for each of us.⁠
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There was no intellectual way to talk about this. It was visceral, physical, and emotional. It was beyond words.⁠
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I needed help, and I needed it now. ⁠

I called two people who work in the metaphysical world. They both channel. They both have clients all over the world. I said, -- Please, please, please come over. Something is happening and I don't know what it is. --⁠
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I met with them separately and they told me the same thing. I hesitate to say it., because, well, it's so woo-woo. ⁠
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They said the paintings are portals. They open a channel between the person viewing it and the other side. And the viewer basically downloads information when staring at it. It's not so much that the information can be articulated, but it is as though your soul is being addressed.⁠
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I asked them why Emily and I had experienced this for three days, and then it stopped. – “You got the message”, she said.⁠
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We talked about why this was coming to me and what I should do with it. And we discussed how it was connected to the initial experience at the concert. The bottom line is the world is in flux. Things are very scary now. And this will help.⁠

It was very soon after that that I was told I needed open-heart surgery. Both of these women said – “Good. You are getting an upgrade. You’ll need it to do these paintings”. 

*Swedish Death Cleaning is a decluttering process with the bigger picture in mind: the bigger picture being how your friends and family have to deal with the stuff you leave behind.