Excuse me, #2

I met Valerie Hegarty when we both did a residency together at SmackMellon. She was the best thing about that residency. During the summer of our residency we showed together at the Drawing Center. After Smackmellon, Valerie did a residency at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and I did one through LMCC. Then Valerie did another residency at P.S. 122, and then moved into a beautiful studio off 4th Avenue in Brooklyn and took a two and a half year lease.

Walking into Valerie's studio for this month's "Excuse me, you have art in your teeth," food and art salon was like stepping into a dream. Pictured above, the whiteness and creativeness of the space embraced me immediately. I brought a picnic dinner, my computer, and a box of drawings. It was really the first time I prepared a comprehensive mobile studio visit. Valerie had just packed up work for a show at London's Museum52.

Her studio wasn't empty, but a big project, having been packed up, left room for something new. Ideas were swimming around.