{"id":3127,"date":"2014-10-03T16:23:27","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T16:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/arts-culture\/slater-barron-s-50-year-art-portfolio-built-with-one-piece-of-lint-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2014-10-03T16:23:27","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T16:23:27","slug":"slater-barron-s-50-year-art-portfolio-built-with-one-piece-of-lint-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/slater-barron-s-50-year-art-portfolio-built-with-one-piece-of-lint-at-a-time","title":{"rendered":"Slater Barron’s 50-Year Art Portfolio Built with One Piece of Lint at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Barron01\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Slater Barron Installation 8 feet x 15 feet x 20 feet. Media: Lint, found objects, mixed media, slides, and recorded sound.<\/em><\/p>\n

Shortly after getting her degree in sociology and psychology, the soon-to-be-artist Slater Barron was precocious in knowing that she was far too young and inexperienced to be handling the array of people seeking her help at the New Jersey State Child Welfare Department. The ever-changing list of clients forced her to make a change herself\u2014and that was an entire departure from the Garden State to join the Navy.<\/p>\n

\"ScreenUsing her educated albeit limited skills in social work, she honed her talent for counseling by helping naval officers transition from the solid ground to the seas for assignments that would take them around the world\u2014including France, where Barron discovered and had the privilege of studying art.<\/p>\n

Little did she know that her studies would eventually create a world of art that spans five decades, appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson<\/em>, and creations that hold permanent homes in museums and private collections throughout the world (including over 30 celebrity portraits made entirely of lint that sit in Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not Museums<\/em>. Yes, that John Wayne lint portrait at the Ripley\u2019s<\/em> off of Hollywood Blvd.? That\u2019s all Barron. But more on the lint in a bit.)<\/p>\n

The result of the endless hours have now come to More Is More, A Fifty Year Survey<\/em>, a massive exhibition that opens this Saturday at the Stone Rode Gallery and showcases more than one hundred of the artist\u2019s works.<\/p>\n

Marrying a Marine and having children, Barron\u2019s studies abroad gave her the ability to \u201ccreate beauty from my family and my environment\u201d and discover that \u201chappiness just happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that happiness was exploring installations, collage, writing, assemblage, paint and performance\u2014any form of art that Barron could get her hands on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had continually switched mediums while growing my portfolio,\u201d Barron said. \u201cI switched to acrylic paint and watercolor when my personal life became more complicated and I needed instant gratification or, often, instant failure\u2026 One of my series, with metal leaf and off-black textured paint, shows the light in the darkness, and was influenced by the light I saw behind my eyes as I psychologically prepared for lung cancer surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Barron03\"<\/p>\n

Official Army Photograph. Lint on museum board 48\u2033x36\u2033.<\/em><\/p>\n

But with the creation of art comes the taking of time and with children to take care of and a house to maintain, it was becoming difficult to work and play with art.<\/p>\n

Until, while doing laundry, she pulled out the lint catcher of the drier and saw an opportunity that would take her to new heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 70s, when laundry duty for my four teenagers interrupted my painting time, I switched to using dryer lint as a medium so that the chore became a positive part of my work,\u201d Barron said.<\/p>\n

Never shying from social commentary, Barron\u2019s pieces weren\u2019t just relegated to celebrity portraits or recreation of food with lint.<\/p>\n

\"BarronMother\"\u201cI am most proud of the series of portraits I made in dryer lint that depict my mother as Alzheimer’s disease took her away before she died [one pictured left],\u201d Barron said. \u201cThe portraits are textured and life size but still painterly and there are three of the seven hung together. I am interested in the universe so some work is reflective of that as I think beyond the earth in my prayer paintings, some of which have chimes attached to send sound out. That series has about 300 pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Barron has a playful side, admitting herself that humor helps balance her life. It is admittedly hard for you not to at least smile or chuckle at her Chef\u2019s Special series that takes lint and turns them into beautiful pieces of sushi.<\/p>\n

After the numerous awards and accollations\u2014she was honored by the City of Long Beach as the Distinguished Visual Artist of the Year in and scored a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles in 2007\u2014Barron stands by one simple thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I conclude, and am surprised to find, that my life\u2019s work is also my life story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The <\/em>More Is More exhibition will be shown at the Stone Rose Gallery, located at 342 E. 4th St, and will through November 1, 2014. The opening reception will occur this Saturday from 7PM to 9PM. Gallery hours are Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 6PM, and Friday and Saturday, noon to 7PM . Call 562-436-1600 for more information. More of Barron’s art can be seen at www.slaterbarron.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Little did Slater Barron know that her studies would eventually create a world of art that spans five decades, appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson<\/em>, and creations that hold permanent homes in museums and private collections throughout the world (including over 30 celebrity portraits made entirely of lint that sit in Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not Museums<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":68402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1287],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-long-beach-arts-month-2014","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3127"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3127"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}