This time last year, I reported on a group of artists I saw exhibiting at the American Craft Council's Baltimore exhibition who caught my eye (out of the 700+ artists exhibiting at the convention center). I highlighted a handful of them with a shout out. One included Portland, Oregon fiber artist Maggie Casey. Today, flipping through the newest issue of American Craft Magazine I spotted a two page feature written by Joyce Lovelace on Maggie. Nice. Very few young artists get that kind of spread in a glossy national publication. She's the real deal.
Here's a little snip from the article (read the whole thing here):
"I just love string," she says. "I guess it's the line and pattern, and the way it moves, the stretching and tension." Her sculptures, made mainly of string (sometimes with wood or metal supports and whatever found objects serve her purpose), are best described as architectural/ mathematical constructions, or 3-D drawings. They range from room installations, such as Staircase in Abandoned Racquetball Court to smaller works like Splitting. All are what Casey calls "frozen moments, celebrating an instant" - ghostly rocking chairs, a gust of wind, silk organza tossed and captured midair. Her approach combines meticulous plotting and craftsmanship (skills she honed as a seamstress and pattern maker), active engagement with a given environment, a fascination with cause and effect, and an affinity for material.
I will continue to keep a close eye on Maggie and the progression of her art. At just 26 years old, she has a very long a bright future ahead of her. Oh... and remember... I gave Maggie props a year ago.
It sounds like a cool some interactive.
Posted by: Sofa | February 13, 2009 at 01:10 AM