Desk left, a tapestried wall reminiscent of art mounted in the salon style (I should note that this was sewed together all by my lonesome!). One day, a carefully curated collection will hang in its place. Desk front, a salvaged punched tin magnetic board. Desk right, the early stages of fabric bombing.
Had I known that carving out a creative nook in my New York apartment would be a feat of physical and emotional proportions, I may have outsourced the event.
I waffled. I pouted. I wailed. I hit my head and teared to my husband.
I endured design distress.
What was this Blank Canvas? It was doubt. For days I sat in paralysis, angered and frustrated by its sterile presence. How would I summon the self understanding to make a space that reflected me – not only in this moment but through time?
The beauty and the beast of design is that it forces one to make decisions that most likely will not represent the future self. It’s an exercise in value. What object is worthy of wall space now? How does one know?
You see, in the magazines the process and the product of designing a space happen at once. At the end of the spread, there’s always a tidy, soul-fulfilling environment that speaks volumes about the person inside. Within a single afternoon, meaning is ascribed to material.
But I can’t take the pressure, which is why I call my humble zone an “aperture of aspiration,” a place that I cannot yet attribute meaning (though, I’m sensing an inkling) but has all aspiration of evolving into one – over time.
The Materials~
* A punched tin tile salvaged from a demo in the Lower East Side. Perfectly so, these tiles are a fun magnetic surface for savory images, this or even that.
* Ghost Salon Tapestry, a nod to our collecting dreams. Comprised of black swatches that hang in lieu of the artworks that will one day hang, salon style, in our home. I picked the succulent oriental motif fabrics, traced shapes using our favorite gratin dishes and bread plates, and finally sewed them onto the backdrop.
Tapestry detail
* Fabric bombing has begun. Discarded seam binding, gift ribbons, scraps and swatches that I have used will be the only materials to wrap the unsightly poles.
* A miscellany of my own darkroom exposures, brads, pushpins, cards, ephemera, inspirations are welcome on all walls, tapestry and magnetic surfaces – through time.
How have you shaped your studio? How has your studio shaped you?
Oh, and a strapping hug goes out to each of you for helping me through this. I brought all of you with me into the streets of New York and this inward journey!
