Late in the 1980s, the imagery I was inventing derived from one or the other of two vocabularies. One led to a body of work that was abstract, colorful and playful. The other derived from my fascination with nature, and was whimsically representational. Around this time, I was creating imagery infused home furnishings. I classified individual pieces as belonging to either my “Matisse Modern Style” or my “Utopian Style,” spoofing the way furniture is catagorized both historically and also for merchandising.
No longer designing for function, I would still describe my abstract language as having been inspired by Matisse’s work, primarily his cut-outs. My lifelong fascination with plants and animals only intensifies as I get older. “Utopian” objects never resembled the real thing too closely, but were always recognizeable interpretations from nature. Today I often like to juxtapose the two directions within one piece, as can be seen in much of the work I am presenting in this exhibition.
