The Art of Dating: Expressing dating lessons through art

On Sunday night I was at an event at the Muriel Guepin gallery in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It is a lovely gallery that hosts art classes (for children and for adults) and I enjoyed talking with the gallery owner there. As if by serendipity, she pointed out some embroidered art work that I had missed and it turns out that it was all about dating!

The artist was a 34 year old visual artist called Iviva Olenick who creates narrative embroidery about her dating experiences. She teaches embroidery at Pratt, something called the embroidered art journal. I thought that it was a completely clever idea because I’d never heard of it before (unusual in NY) and the arts are a great outlet for expressing dating angst. Some of her pieces there said things like, ‘My relationships are nutritionally deprived. It started with my recession boyfriend’ or ‘You were my marathon. If I ran fast enough I dreamed you’d be with me at the end.’ Her smaller pieces were called ‘post-its.’ What a cool idea:-‘dating post-its!’

I was curious to learn more about this single visual poetess so I sent her an email when I got home and asked to interview her by phone the next day. I wanted to know a little about why she chose to express her dating experiences through art. She told me that at one point she was dating a lot and she had many phrases in her head that she felt needed a physical format. It was cathartic to create this artwork and then she wanted people to see the content. She showed her friends and they got excited and started to tell her even more dating stories, which fed her work. Iviva says that she is not dating as much now because she is so busy working, running and creating art. She does her pieces on the subway, during her commute. In terms of finding love, she believes that the right person will come to her while she is on her path. She says that everyone wants a home in someone else and that it is a basic part of being human to want true love. I teased her that her art work was one way of putting herself out there in the world and that maybe someone would see it, learn about her and contact her for a date. You never know. I think it’s true that you draw like-minded people to you when you are following your bliss and are being your authentic creative self .

So if you want to see some of Iviva Olenick’s art work, check out the great new Muriel Guepin gallery in Brooklyn. I’ve posted the website below. Some of Iviva’s pieces cost only $120 which could be reasonable to collect even for young single art lovers. If you are looking to buy even more of her work you can also go to the Affordable Art Fair in NYC in May where Muriel will be selling it ( May 6-May 9, 2010). See that link below too.  I also think it would make a fun date to go the museum to see her artwork about dating and to joke and discuss the topics covered.

If anyone else knows of different artistic mediums through which artists are currently expressing their dating experiences and lessons, please post them under comments. Personally I think art is a great way to transform angst, pain or desire into something beautiful and of value to all.

My Best in Love,

Paulette
www.mydatingschool.com

Author of ‘Dating from the Inside Out: How to Use the Law of Attraction in Matters of the Heart’ published by Atria Books.

Relevant Links:
http://wereisobesotted.blogspot.com/  
http://www.neoimages.net/artwork.aspx?nid=2034966  
http://www.IvivaEmbroiders.etsy.com  
http://www.neoimages.net/artistportfolio.aspx?pid=2446  
http://www.neoimages.net/artistportfolio.aspx?pid=858  
http://www.murielguepingallery.com/  
http://www.aafnyc.com/exhibitors.php