Here’s something to know
about me: I love lunch dates.
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| Rainy Day in NYC--meeting Sarah Archer and David McFadden at MAD |
Back in November, I drove all
the way to New York City for a lunch date. I lunched with David McFadden, chief curator
of the newly opened Museum for Art and Design (MAD), and Sarah Archer, the curator who has
brought my forthcoming solo show to the Philadelphia
Art Alliance (PAA).
The show—Reverie—opens on February 7th.
David is writing the
catalogue essay/interview for Reverie!
This explains why the
work I am doing for the PAA show might be compelling to him. For this show,
I’ve taken inspiration from my family’s collection of 18th and 19th
century plates, in order to create a series of “plate paintings” in which
design elements from “source” plates are drastically scaled up and applied in a
matrix on a grid of new plates (see image). In this way, I create a completely new way of experiencing a familiar pattern.
Along with my enjoyment at reinterpreting collected heirlooms, I love the
chance to make a utilitarian object like a plate into a painting--a
work of art for the wall.
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| After Blue Willow: 2012, 25 Hand-painted plates with glaze and underglaze measures: 50" x 50" |
Domestic history, craft,
design, and art, these are the themes that constantly have me thinking—and
rethinking.
New York City is a place of
beauty that sometimes is hard to categorize. I love the shapes and the
reflections, more interplay, between landscape and interior. And of course,
there was lunch: the restaurant—Robert—is on a
first-name basis with everyone and it’s also on top…
of the MAD Building, ninth
floor, Columbus Circle. It was hard not to seem distracted.
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| Across from David McFadden dining at ROBERT atop MAD |
My lunch companions
that day happen to be two interesting and lively people, who care about the
same things I do. But there was the terrific view in competition.
