Match made

Sometimes the pairing of a particular mosaic with a collector is a bit magical.

🔴SOLD!

Giving some touch-up love (farewell fingerprints and studio scuffs!) to Pair Bonding, one of my very favorite works, before it heads off to a collector’s home.

Pair Bonding is made from my paternal grandmother’s wedding china from the early 1930s, back when my grandfather considered himself to be “doing her a favor“ by marrying my grandmother because she was “damaged goods” (divorced).

When the china came to me six or seven years ago through my aunt, it got me thinking about the human instinct to pair up and how the western institution/meaning of marriage/partnering and the role of its traditions (wedding china included) has evolved (thank dog!) from then through my mother’s era (1950s), mine (1980s), and the current day. Pair Bonding is my visual exploration of those thoughts.

As I began to chop, pair, and and bind the pieces together with wire, I looked for ones that nestled well together. But then I got to thinking that the most satisfying and interesting pairings aren’t the perfectly-matched ones, but those that have more challenging curves and angles.

So I began looking for pieces that nestled less comfortably together, and found deep satisfaction in discovering their grace and flow.

The collector is purchasing this work as a celebration of her first wedding anniversary. I don’t even have words for how much I love that.