What are a few things that inspire you to create? I guess the inherent need to make something. And then, learning about yourself, learning through studying, being culturally aware and always looking are constant sources of inspiration. Whether it was looking at fashion magazines when I was a kid or going to places with my parents. I mean, I don’t really know how far back I need to talk about anything, but I’d say my materials are definitely my muse. What can I do? How can I see this anew? And then the working site specifically is always invigorating too. So, I’ve got the materials that I work with, and then I’ve got a site that I’m working with. And before I was getting asked to do things at a museum, I was doing it in my backyard. Like, oh, there’s this beautiful sunset. I want to hang something up in front of it and see what it looks like. Or I have got my hands on a ton of this material — I’m going to lay it out in the yard. And then you start to think about, like, oh, wow. That kind of looks like a picture that I saw a long time ago of people laying out their textiles to dry on these big stairs by the river in India. Or this looks like some quilts that I saw hanging in a picture in my book about the quilters of Gee’s Bend. I guess I’m inspired by the art that I was exposed to in college. And before then, the art that my parents had in their house. So obviously, art is an inspiration, and I like being part of that dialogue. But I also very much like seeing myself as just being part of this world and that everything is potential inspiration, whether it’s this chair that I’m sitting in or a pretty sunset, or a beautiful vintage dress that I find at a thrift store. You know, inspiration is everywhere. What kind of sensory or emotional experiences do you hope to evoke from viewers with your art? I mean, I feel like I’m a director of a movie. I’ve got all these things in place, and I have an idea of how I would like someone to walk around and notice different things. There’s a romanticism that I feel when I’m thinking about things, and I want someone else to bear witness to how beautiful something can be, or the impact that it can have visually. When you’re asking someone to walk through a garden, it becomes physical too. All these colors are going to be over your head, or through a window. And the sky will look different every time you come. So, how does that affect the piece? How does the sky affect the colors? It’ll feel different every time, and I love that. It will never be the same. In some ways, the work is alive, and it’s present and ever-changing. And those are ideas that I’m attracted to. There’s this idea of capturing a moment here at the museum. Maybe catching someone in one mood, and having an effect on that. Not to cheer people up, but maybe just to have a time of reflection. At the same time, you could look at my work and see it purely as form and function, you know? I don’t know if it evokes any of those ideas. Those are just things that I’m thinking about.
I guess it is subjective to everyone based on their preconceptions. Mm-hmm. And where they are on that day. Where is your favorite place that you’ve ever created an installation, and why? Well, I have three places that I’ve been going to for 23 years, I’d say. One is in New Mexico. There’s a couple of spots in New Mexico. I love to go to White Sands ‘cause it’s literally this beautiful gypsum, white-sanded area. So, the color really pops, and like I was saying, the sky always looks different. I love going there because no matter how big I think I’m working, everything looks so small. It just really messes with your perspective and your sense of scale and your place in this world. I guess I like those big feelings. And then I love going to my husband’s family farm in South Dakota. It’s also a different kind of grand vista of rolling prairie lands. And it’s far enough north that the sun doesn’t set in the summertime ‘til almost 11 at night. So, you get a big long day, and there’s just all kinds of old barns and old farm equipment and beautiful grasses and gravel roads, and that has been an endless inspiration to just kind of be out there and play in the summertime with no one watching except myself, and then when I bring someone in who’ll help me. My parents are actually from opposite coasts, but I grew up in Missouri. So, I grew up visiting both of their homes, California and New York, my whole life, with these long road trips. [Missouri is] very foresty, like more deciduous and green with all the trees. I could hang the same piece up in their yard with all this greenery around and it looks so different. Like, the colors look different. It looks so dense. Surrounded by green. I would think, “Well, should I put red in there?” ‘cause that’s a complementary color, and then think about “Why does red look good with green?” Or, maybe more oranges or something. Hot orange. And then in the fall, when all the trees are brown and orange and yellow, everything looks very different then as well. I guess those are my three favorite places to go to. All very different experiences. What’s next for you in terms of your career? I don’t know. This is a highlight because it’s a long-term project with the museum and that really means the world to me as an artist to get this opportunity. And also being around students and seeing what the young kids are doing. That’s inspiring to me too.
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