{"id":8987,"date":"2017-04-02T17:16:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T21:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/?p=8987"},"modified":"2019-05-23T13:54:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T17:54:38","slug":"i-must-have-kentucky-all-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/archives\/8987","title":{"rendered":"I Must Have Kentucky ~ all the details"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us. We would as well consent to separation at once, including the surrender of this capitol.\u201d
\n\u2014 Abraham Lincoln, 1861
\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am constantly experimenting, because I find it difficult to pluck a coherent idea from a \u201ccold start,\u201d and so I cultivate a habit of collage experimentation<\/a> to preserve a state of receptivity and to invite the uncanny \u201csynchronicities\u201d from which a more rational concept can be refined. More often than not, there are no distinct memories associated with the genesis of an idea. It is unusual, therefore, to have a clear recollection of the creative lineage for I Must Have Kentucky<\/strong>,<\/em><\/a> currently on display as part of 225: Artists Celebrate Kentucky\u2019s History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was stumped about how to respond when a call to artists from curator Gwen Heffner<\/a> announced an exhibition to observe Kentucky\u2019s 225th birthday. I thought about the history of my own town (Danville, the first capital of the state), about the The Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project<\/a>, about the story of tobacco growing families in Kentucky, and about the great Kentucky abolitionists. There were so many fascinating subjects, but none of them sparked a visual flame in my imagination. When I shared my befuddlement with Dana, my \u201cpartner in all things<\/a>,\u201d she suggested I consider doing something with Star of Abraham<\/em><\/a>, an artifact I made in 2009 for the bicentennial of the 16th president\u2019s birth. \"Star<\/a>The bulk of my collected Lincoln images had been exploited to cover a salvaged metal star. To produce a collage tribute to the martyred leader with a folk-art quality seemed a technique appropriate to the occasion, and it was still in my studio, generating little interest from visitors. I liked the notion of using it as a \u201cfound object\u201d in a larger assemblage, but there needed to be more to it than that. The solution finally hit me on a drive to our family farm, when I turned off the radio and focused on the rolling \u201cknobs\u201d that surrounded me: Lincoln\u2019s famous declaration about his home state during the Civil War!<\/a><\/p>\n

I got down a flurry of thumbnail concepts in my journal when I arrived at my destination. It was barely necessary to ever look at them again, because the development toward a final idea took on a momentum of its own. I realized I could enlarge my Lincoln theme with additional artisanship to include the importance of Kentucky in his strategic thinking. A design took shape in my sketches, and I searched my stash for images that would do justice to the \u201cbrother against brother, family against family\u201d character of the conflict in a state that gave birth to the presidents of each warring side.<\/p>\n

The expanded mixed-media construction is created from recycled materials \u2014 found ingredients include salvaged wood and metal, plus discarded books, magazines, maps, and mailed promotions. My lettering is hand painted with acrylics. \"John<\/a>Obviously, the dimensional star represents Abraham Lincoln. The five horizontal bands signify the final years of his life and the impact his decisions had on Kentucky and the United States during that time. Among the individuals featured are Kentucky native Jefferson Davis, Lincoln\u2019s rival in war, and Senator Stephen A. Douglas, his rival in peace, plus Lexington native Mary Todd, her sons Willie and Robert, Munfordville native Simon B. Buckner, Frederick Douglass, U.S. Grant, Clara Barton, John Hunt Morgan, and others. Also represented: soldiers, their ladies, Kentucky coal miners, and the decisive Battle of Perryville. <\/p>\n

The artwork commemorates our Commonwealth during 1860 to 1864, the most tumultuous period in its history. At the center of those pivotal years is the towering figure of its most illustrious native son, who encapsulated the significance of the border state to the cause of national unity when he reputedly declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky\u201d<\/a>.<\/em>
\n 
\n
\n\"detail<\/a><\/p>\n

I secured the existing \u2018Star of Abraham\u2019 to a construction of five salvaged
wood planks, which alternates hand-painted lettering with my typical collage
treatment. My Lincoln artifact had finally found a fitting context.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"detail<\/a><\/p>\n

I long have found interesting that Kentucky had given birth to both
presidential leaders in the national conflict, and I devoted a section of my
composition to that inexplicable fact.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"detail<\/a><\/p>\n

Border-state Kentuckians were divided when war broke out. Munfordville
native Simon B. Buckner attempted to enforce its neutrality before accepting
a Confederate commission. He led troops at the strategic Battle of Perryville
in 1862, and later became a scandal-plagued governor of the Commonwealth.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"detail<\/a><\/p>\n

One of my favorite spots in the piece: Lincoln\u2019s boy Willie, U.S. Grant, a young
Frederick Douglass as a free man next to a slaveholder\u2019s advertisement,
a superb wood engraving of combat, Clara Barton, Samuel Colt, and an image
of the Commander in Chief that indicates his unusual height.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks for reading such a long entry. I invite you to register and comment here<\/a>. Let me know what you think. If anything bugs you, constructive criticism<\/a> is encouraged!<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us. We would as well consent to separation at once, including the surrender of this capitol.\u201d \u2014 Abraham […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,89,118,30,160,437,157,8,240,22,18,111,35,39,241,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8987"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9057,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions\/9057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}