Paintings without Paint – Milagros Frahn Koerner 2006/2025

 

The work included here was first conceived while in Residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico. I completed the first 6 pieces during the months of April and May 2006. Below is information on how I got there and how the work came about.

 

I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. I was working there every day in my studio when the force of Hurricane Katrina came barreling down upon us. Due to a mandatory evacuation from our Mayor on August 28, 2005, my family and I were forced to leave the city and stay out of town through the month of September 2005. But on September 28, we jumped the curfew and moved back home.

 

On August 28 New Orleans was put under a Mandatory Evacuation due to Hurricane Katrina. After rapidly ‘Hurricane proofing’ my house, I drove the getaway car which included my youngest son Alex [17-year-old], my elderly Mother who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and our elder 15-year-old dog Sadie. Thirteen hours later we arrived in Atlanta, GA. It usually takes eight hours.

 

It quickly became clear that my mother needed more care than I could provide on the road. I immediately booked a flight to Houston and brought her to stay with relatives there. I returned to Alex and Sadie in Atlanta. Sadie also needed more care, so my second son Fritz and his wife Carina who live in Atlanta graciously offered to look after her.

 

Then Alex and I hit the road. I thought - why not try to enjoy this in some way? We drove to Asheville, NC, on to New York for a Kirtan Café and Gallery visits in Chelsea. From there Alex and I drove through Boston and on to Beverly, MA. A friend of mine was having a show at the Montserrat College of Art and needed help constructing her Installations. Most of her work was stuck in New Orleans due to the storm’s mandatory evacuation. After helping build the show and participating in a panel discussion on “Life After Art School,” Alex and I began the journey back home. Several days later we were able to get back into a much-devastated city. The whole evacuation road trip was actually an amazing experience!

 

Because of the storm I was forced out of my day-to-day existence. I was able to make many new friends and contacts. My whole world opened up in unexpected ways. I have a new perspective on what is important in life.

 

When I was awarded the Artist Residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute, I was primarily an oil painter, working with multi-layered patterns and imagery on large canvasses. The Storm gave me the impetus to break out of my usual routines – even in art. I decided that while in Santa Fe, I would try something new: “paintings without paint.” Before leaving New Orleans for the Residency, I went shopping for fabric… where natives of the city buy material for Mardi Gras costumes. I grew up sewing and I’d always wanted to incorporate fabric into my artwork. Our Mardi Gras Indians and Mardi Gras traditions have also been an influence on me. Once in Santa Fe, I went in search of materials to use other than paint. I ended up with nails, beads, pom-poms and sequins.

 

This series was inspired during the residency and in part by a local trip to the Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico during my time at SFAI. The Milagros I saw in the Church captivated me. Back in my SFAI studio, I decided that I would make my own ‘Milagros.’  I was thankful that my family was spared bodily harm during the storm. I also think that I needed to do something physical in order to release some of the frustration that living in the chaos that New Orleans had become post Katrina. Light, reflective, and matte surfaces have always been an important part of my artwork. In this “Painting without Paint” series, I’ve continued to use some of the imagery from my paintings, just now with materials other than paint.