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August 31, 2007
Of scribbles and sculptures
Artistic partnership makes doodles into three-dimensional objects.
OLGA LIVSHIN
According to TV producer and professional doodler Cyrus Yavneh,
"Doodles are visual poetry."
It's a point he hopes to demonstrate when his new exhibition opens
at the Elliott Louis Gallery in September. Many people doodle when
they are thinking, having a telephone conversation, or sitting through
a tedious briefing. Yavneh is probably the only doodler in the world
whose spontaneous doodles have been translated into bronze images
by a professional sculptor. The results will be on display at his
joint show (with sculptor Mary-Ann Liu), Doodle Does It: A Journey
from Doodles to Bronze.
Yavneh grew up in New York – the youngest son in a Jewish family
with five children. His father was an Orthodox Jew and a prominent
New York cantor. Yavneh's two older brothers also became cantors,
so spirituality and music runs in his blood.
Yavneh pursued psychology as his major in college. For five years,
he studied nights and worked days, but he never graduated. "I
studied myself out of the Vietnam War," he said, with a chuckle.
In his 64 years, Yavneh has tried many professions. He worked as
an actor, a cook, a stage manager, a salesman and a dance-band musician.
Now, he is a freelance producer, writer and filmmaker. Currently,
he produces the TV show Supernatural, which is filmed in
Vancouver. He writes in his online resume: "I am a father,
husband, brother, son, uncle, cousin, friend, colleague, taxpayer,
homeowner, union member, Jewish and all things human."
And he has always been a doodler: subconsciously funnelling the
events of his complex outer life and the rich emotional waves of
his inner existence into little silhouettes on paper. Moreover,
feeling a deep connection to his doodles, he has always saved them,
putting them into "doodle bags."
"What am I doing saving scribbles?" he mused. "Why
not? It's a unique art form that most people do." In his opinion,
we all live on multiple levels, and the doodles are a manifestation
of our subconsciousness. "A doodle can materialize on napkins,
notepads, files and just about anywhere," he noted. "When
I see one, I cut it out and put it in a large baggie, my doodle
bag. I'm sure they are all happy to be in the doodle bag with all
their other doodle friends, wondering when I'm going to glue them
on and write something about them. The experience can be an exercise
in non-censorship."
When Yavneh's doodle bags became full to bursting, he decided to
make collages from his doodles. "The doodles," he said,
"are like a palette; pick your color, shape, size, word."
By his own admission, the process is therapeutic, helping him deal
with the stresses of a high-level TV producer's life. Whenever he
worries about his children, money, next job, or world peace, he
dives into his doodle bag, chooses the right doodles and pastes
them onto a sheet of cardboard. So far, he has made 12 of these
collage-sheets. He calls them "doodleramas."
A poet at heart, Yavney supplied each doodlerama with an attached
description that reads like a hymn; a blend of poetry and melody.
Each doodlerama has a name. One is called "Dancing." Among
other titles are "Cum Gazunt" ("Be Healthy"),
"Imagine" and "Who Knows?"
As a TV man, Yavneh has encountered many interesting and gifted
people throughout his professional career. He met Liu, his current
collaborator, on the set of his TV series, where she worked as a
graphic designer. They became friends, exchanged greetings and chatted
occasionally over coffee, until one day, about two years ago, Yavneh
showed Liu his doodleramas. That day changed both of them. Yavneh
writes in his poem "Hello, Happy": "And then came
Mary-Ann Liu, and she created 'Happy' and Happy's friends."
Liu admitted that Yavneh's doodles "turned my crank."
"Cyrus's doodles are a treasure trove of musical notes and
amoebic forms. They are full of light and adventure," she suggested.
"In my mind, they form themselves into characters and, in my
hands, they materialize into a three-dimensional reality."
Following her intuition, she took one tiny blue doodle with the
name "Tundi" and transformed it into the first experimental
sculpture, "Happy." Made from fibreglass and indigo flocking,
the sculpture was fuzzy, like a child's toy. It was the first step
on the journey of artistic collaboration with Yavneh.
Using the fluid shapes of Yavneh's doodles as a base and, spurred
by their visual rhythms, Liu created more than 30 abstract bronze
sculptures.
The alliance of these two unlikely partners-in-art, a Jewish TV
producer and a Chinese sculptor, will be shown at the Elliott Louis
Gallery until Sept. 30. For more information, visit www.elliottlouis.com.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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