A state of mind as much as anything, inspiration seems to ride the back of a heartened spirit, available attention and a friendly commute to one’s own imagination. One reason we need art in this world is because experiencing it nudges children and adults toward their own inspiration.
Mine seems fired as much by the humble as the great. With regard to well vetted and venerated artists, a long list offers me fuel. These include: Henri Matisse, Edouard Vuillard, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell, the Delaunays, Gego, Alexander Calder, Sol Lewitt, Ellsworth Kelly, Eva Hesse, Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman, Richard Tuttle and James Castle.
No less compelling, however, are certain home made goods, especially American pre-Industrial Revolution folk art, including hooked rugs, pieced quilts, woven baskets, paper band boxes and painted game boards. What makes them poignant is not just their inherent beauty, but also their less self conscious expression, their daily usefulness showing in wear, their place in domestic life.
Many of the tools and materials we employ to make things I also value: ribbon,paper fasteners, hose washers, metal hinges. Such clear design encourages a disciplined vision. Even my own remnants offer clues, Sometimes a tiny leftover scrap on the table suggests a new piece in which this one shape is built into a new honored existence. Maybe for me the more or less visible hand, guided by a well expressed imagination and aesthetic, liberates my own.
- Joseph Cornell.
Untitled 1954 - Anonymous.
Parcheesi Board, 1875-1899