FOUR SEASONS FEATURE

At the end of 2020 I was commissioned by Kevin Barry Art Advisory to create a piece for ‘a restaurant in Napa.’ I didn’t ask which one, so you can imagine my surprise when I recently learned that my work was part of an art package for the Four Seasons Napa Valley.

The concept was to depict the route of the Oat Hill Mine Trail in the style of my previous work, with a significant difference being that the leather would be sewn into canvas as opposed to tacked directly into the wall and finalized on site.

While this allows me the opportunity to create pieces for destinations far and wide, it also means that the last time I saw the piece, it was in my studio—and as I review the images, it looks like I didn’t even take one of the fully finished version.

Process shots below.

 
 

OCTO*STAR

This piece is a special commission for a friend, currently living in the Feusier Octagon House in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood. I had the great fortune to visit last summer, when we talked about creating an eight-sided Guide Star to commemorate the years the family lived in the rented space. Up until then, my plywood pieces had all been hexagonal, not by any intentional numerology, but due to the fact that I’d designed them using scrap material. So in addition to adding a couple of sides, the project took me away from my comfort zone—sliding shapes around on the studio floor—into less familiar territory, creating digital files to cut triangles from and then piece together.

Who doesn’t prefer repeating the process they know and love? I know I certainly do. But as this year has shown us in a most dramatic fashion, figuring out how to do things a little differently can also offer a tremendous reward. Will a decagon be next???

24 x 24 x 3 inches

24 x 24 x 3 inches

BLUE BAYOU INSTALL

Shortly after our stay at home order expired I was notified that a large commission I’d finished in March would be ready for install. I’d anticipated feeling strange to be working in proximity to other people after some six weeks of relative isolation, but the thrill of getting to see a substantial project to completion was by far the tone for the entire afternoon.

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A couple of days later, I got a troubling call, informing me that there’d been ample feedback since install that the bayou looked too much like a sperm. The irony, of course, is that I'd been thinking the design had a fertility motif since the beginning but figured if they were happy with that messaging then so was I. To abridge an epic tale, I was assisted in getting the offending portion of the bayou back home and was able to transform the ‘head’ into another whiplash curl.

commissioned by Curator Engine

commissioned by Curator Engine

Everyone was pleased with the outcome—and true to form, I’m looking forward to seeing what I can make from the areas I cut out…

I have a few additional pieces in this lobby as well, after all, what’s a moon and a bayou without a few Guide Stars?

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SIGHT LINES AT AC HOTEL FRISCO

I recently received installation images from a commission completed earlier this year. Sight Lines grew out of a previous installation, this time with leather pieces joined together in fluid, interconnected linework inspired by topographical maps of North Texas. Since the piece left my studio as an unstretched canvas roll, it’s especially rewarding to see it framed and hung.

LOBBY INSTALLATION AT AC HOTEL BEVERLY HILLS

My last project of the year was an on-site installation of a series of custom wall sculptures for the soon-to-open AC Hotel in Los Angeles. These abstract, dimensional pieces belong to a family of other work made of laser-cut plywood offcuts and display some different curling and forms. Setting up for a day by the entrance meant that the installation was the focal point of everyone going in and out of the building, and elicited all the typical curiosity and words of encouragement reserved for a woman on an 8-foot ladder with nails in her mouth.

commission from Kevin Barry Fine Art

commission from Kevin Barry Fine Art

While I was only in town for a moment, other highlights included finally getting to meet Olivia Ciummo’s recent human creation and having an afternoon visit to Hauser & Wirth with Betsy Seder. A Zoe Leonard photo show was one of the exhibitions on display, which was a treat to get to see and chew on with a photographer before dashing through the classic southern California sunshine back to the airport. In more ways than one, I spent this solstice above the clouds.