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glass and dirt and cake and more
This is a bit of a long edition, but I hope you read through til the end for a ~*new*~ section I’ll be including moving forward <3
Hello from the start of spring and Aries season. We had the year’s first 80 degree day last Sunday, and while I personally hate sweating, seeing my skin and hair thrive in heat and humidity always reminds me my body is likely meant to live in a different climate.
The last couple of months have been incredibly busy in good and bad ways. Stress has been affecting my chronic illness, which in turn feeds into more stress—spirals and so forth. I regrettably have not spent much time at my actual studio, but I have been making!
I just completed my first flameworking class at the Glass Center, so here’s a little recap of what I worked on and what I’m hoping to continue making in the future.
The last couple of pictures show what I’m hoping to continue practicing and making in the future. My intention with the class was to gain foundational flameworking skills to create objects that can overlay or hang in front of my photo work. My class didn’t technically get into working with a hand torch, but thankfully my instructor was open to showing me the basics and I was able to build this last object inspired by traditional ironwork. It will definitely take a lot more practice for me to get my lines even and straight, but I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish.
In summer 2023, I had the privilege of participating in a workshop with Duane Michals. If you’re unfamiliar with Duane’s work, he is arguably one of the most famous living contemporary photographers and is also from McKeesport. Some of you may have caught his retrospective at the Carnegie Museum of Art back in 2015, which is where I first viewed his work in person. The workshop was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and probably deserves it’s own newsletter (if anyone is curious about what happened on this insane day, I’m happy to share more one-on-one). Stephen Seliy interviewed a number of us workshop participants that summer for a documentary he’s been working on about Duane. A few weeks ago, Stephen reached back out to me about creating a set of photographs after Duane’s Sequences series that will also be included in the documentary. I felt honored to be asked and extremely stressed about what to make, but after consulting a few trusted people who all told me to go with my gut, I went with my initial concept of “returning to the earth.”
This project deserves a special shout out to Sam for being my photo assistant through the whole process. I’m excited to see the final cut of the documentary, and special thanks to Stephen for including me!
I’ve also had a couple fun collaborative shoots that I’ll perhaps share more on later. I am potentially formalizing my photography services to make some extra $$$ as the weather gets warmer, so be on the look out for more information. When I say “formalizing” I mean standardizing my pricing model and offerings, but I always operate with flexibility and can discuss budgets, trades, etc. If you’re interested in working together, please reach out via email!
Where you can see my “work” coming up:
Although it’s not my image-based work, I have been pouring more energy into singing and music, two other loves and passions. I put “perform in front of an audience” on my 2026 bingo card, and there are two upcoming opportunities where you can be that audience:
COLLABARET: A Variety Show of Epic Proportions | Sunday, April 26th, 7-10PM at Glitterbox
Friend, voice teacher, and creative collaborator Elizabeth Joan Harris aka Bella Figlia will be hosting this event in honor of six years in business for her entity FEEL IMAGINE GENERATE. There’s a slate of performances from current and past students and collaborators. I will be performing two covers :)
Tory Silver’s Album Release Show | Saturday, May 30th, 7PM-? at Brillobox
Two years in the making, friend and Uncle (the dog)’s auntie Tory Silver will be releasing her album In Through The Front With Lasers, and I’ll be supporting with vocals!
What I’m Looking At
A year ago for the Distillery residency show opening, Centa asked me to be a part of her project Order Now and Personalize, a series of prints on Giant Eagle sheet cakes that are viewed and eaten during various openings at Brew House Arts. Centa hangs a camera directly over top of the cakes to record how each one is consumed and I recently received the footage.
I actually had two cakes - one larger one for the main opening and a smaller one for the VIP preview that happened directly beforehand. For the larger cake, we used a collage I’d made of test prints of photos that were in the exhibition, and for the smaller one we used an outtake from the project. Particularly because myself/my body is depicted, it’s fascinating to see the order in which viewers chose to cut into the cake and what kinds of shapes and pieces they cut. Big thanks to Centa for including me and for the documentation!
The other week I attended the opening of Things to Come: OUTLINES, 1941-1947 at Romance. The exhibition provides a look at an experimental art gallery that was located on Pittsburgh’s Boulevard of the Allies founded by Elizabeth Rockwell. Outlines had an impressive roster of modernist artists and designers and often focused on showing lesser-known works of names like Alexander Calder and Joseph Cornell.
This was my first time hearing of the gallery, which is actually wild to me, and I’m thankful to Margaret and co-curator Brittany Reilly for bringing this exhibition to life. Expect archival material, jewelry by Calder and Cornell, a screening of Maya Deren’s legendary Meshes of the Afternoon, and more. The show is up through August 16th and will be accompanied by programming throughout. I took way too few photos, so you should definitely make plans to go check it out in person!
What I’m Listening To
Some new ones and old ones to maybe add to your spring rotation~
in filth your mystery is kingdom/far smile peasant in yellow music by Dagmar Zuniga | Bandcamp | Apple Music | Tidal
Early spring always makes me want to return to Santigold’s self-titled album (2008)
Santigold | Apple Music | Tidal
And one of my favorite NTS shows atm:
Artist Feature
And nowww for a new section that I will be having semi-regularly to round out my newsletter. There are so many working artists that I adore, have bought work from, etc., that I want to share and hype up.
I’m kicking things off with one of my favorite Pittsburgh-based artists, Matty Constant. I’ve been following Matty’s work for a few years now and was lucky enough to purchase a piece from his show Mumbles at Pullproof in 2024. He was kind enough to answer some questions for me about his process, Pittsburgh, and our mutual love of Columbo.
KL: Can you talk a bit about your process? Do you mostly work from still life’s, reference photos?
MC: I think of my process as a kind of disciplined wandering, which for me requires a certain combination of effort and ease that I enjoy. I try to keep myself open to any kind of subject (so long as it’s close to me), and I often do start with either an observational sketch that I work up, or with photographs and video as references. In sort of a balancing act though, I also try not to overlook other kinds of subjects that may present themselves. Lately for example, I have been making some paintings from memory alone, which has resulted in a few very abstract pictures. I’ve also been experimenting with some text based paintings and drawings too, which has been extremely rewarding if not initially super fruitful. Overall, I am always motivated by a fascination with novel visual translation and depiction, and I try to make pictures that share a unique and internal (or idiosyncratic) creative sensibility. I try not to linger too long on any one kind of subject (except sunsets, which are boundless), and I like to think of my practice as constantly expanding. While I definitely don’t ever fully live up to my painting ideals, I think for me it’s more about holding an honest intention to follow them.
As someone who does not make a lot of work, it feels like you make a LOT of work. What does a typical day look like for you?
I do make things pretty consistently, but sometimes I think it’s really it’s just because I struggle with the kind of abstract thought involved with planning out larger projects (which I am really trying to improve). At the moment the only sure way I can figure a picture out is by making it, which means I end up making a lot of not-so-good things. In this way I feel like sometimes I am not as efficient an artist as I would like, but on the other side of it I also think I get lucky more often than one might think.
Right now I’m an instructor for a few art classes at the PCA&M, so a good portion of my time is spent teaching. Since I’m a new teacher, it also takes me sort of a long time for me to prepare and think up subjects for classes. I’m having to re-learn a lot myself too, which has been really informative. I read a lot (fiction and short story anthologies) in the afternoons, and I paint and draw often at night when it’s quiet. A lot of my studio work during the day is preparing for more involved night time painting sessions. In the mornings I like to look at the pictures I worked on the night before.
What are your feelings towards Pittsburgh? What’s your relationship like with the city and the people here?
I am so grateful to Pittsburgh! To be fair I’ve only lived in one other place so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I still think the city and the people in it have been really kind to me. The people especially make it a good place, and the geography of the city with its many little valleys force you together with them.
Do you have a favorite sitting spot in the city or a place you like to take a sketchbook?
The Carnegie Library has a tremendous variety of books that are some of the most inspiring drawing materials I have ever found. Just the other day I came upon a fully illustrated index of Milk Glass Sculptures that I made a lot of studies and tracings from. Additionally, any of Pittsburgh’s gorgeous cemeteries are also wonderful for plein air drawing.
We both love Columbo. What is one episode you love?
The Chess Players episode is an early masterpiece. There’s also another good one with Leonard Nimoy as a surgeon that is incredibly confusing. Peter Falk gives me personal strength.
Who is another Pittsburgh artist everyone should know?
I just had a wonderful studio visit with Andrew Allison, who I think is an incredible and unique Pittsburgh artist!
Where can we see your work?
I post pictures pretty consistently on Instagram (@mattyconstant), and am currently working on a website too!
Matty Constant was born in Ames, Iowa in 1996 and attended Ames Senior High School. He received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University School of Art in 2018. He currently lives and works in Pittsburgh.
You can hear Matty talk about his work in the exhibition Nearing Each Other that was on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art in 2024 here.
That was a lot! Thanks for reading! More soon!
I love Duane!
Great edition! I like the artist interview segment!