IN RESIDENCE - Yellow Bird Artscape

Artists in residence

Daniel, Audrey, Neko and Luca Lebel, 2009/2010
Lily Erb, Sept 2013 (painting, photography and more)
Daniel Maissan and Martje Grond, Oct 2016 (pagoda)
Silvan Laan and Emily Thomas, June 2016 (inverted
bird blind and more)
Jeff Schofield, Sept 2020 (installation)
Armin Trujillo, Nov 2021 (shrine)
Stephanie Gottlob, Nov 2021 (trail)
Navied Mahdavian, Oct 2021 (cartoons)
Puma Love, Feb 2022 (painting)

Virgo Rising

Virgo Rising by artists-in-residence Silvan Laan (NLD) and Emily C. Thomas (USA), on 25 September 2016 between 6 pm and 9 pm at Yellow Bird, Woodbury, TN.

Virgo Rising is a temporary work, a line on the land, connecting the points of sunrise and sunset on the fall equinox. Virgo Rising not only serves to structure time, as the equinox marks the transition from summer into winter, it also structures space, since the interplay of sun and earth determine the work’s perfect east-west alignment. 1)

During the equinoxes 2), day and night are equal in length all over the planet (except the poles) 3). Light and dark are in equilibrium; a balancing point in nature and consciousness. A time to reflect on the transition from our outer to inner selves, as the darkness of days increases, approaching winter.

Virgo Rising will turn the hanging valley of Yellow Bird into a celestial observatory 4), an intersection between heaven and earth, microcosmos and macrocosmos, darkness and light, individual and social experience.

We hope to dissolve the boundary between the observer and the artwork by inviting you to participate and enjoy Yellow Bird’s cob and cedar lined, wood-fired sauna. Refreshments, including a Yellow Bird specialty, passiflora punch, will be served. Please bring a towel or other personal items which will aid in your comfort of the sauna experience.

Emily C. Thomas www.emilycthomas.com
Silvan Laan www.silvanlaan.com

1) On the equinoxes, the sun rises due east and sets due west.

2) The spring equinox takes place around 20 March, the fall equinox around 23 September.

3) Equinox from Latin aequinoctium, aequus (equal) and nox (night).

4) The sun, moon, planets and the signs of the zodiac share roughly the same trajectory across the southern sky, known as the ecliptic.

Erica Ciccarone (2016)

Writer/Curator in Residence

Erica lives in Nashville and escapes to Yellow Bird to work on her novel. She publishes personal essays, fiction, news, and reviews about the arts with Nashville Scene, BURNAWAY and Chapter 16, among others. This coming year, she’ll be assisting as Yellow Bird grows its residency program. See https://www.clippings.me/ericaciccarone

Melissa Dole (2016)