The artist studio is place I revere. It is an intimate space to think and create. It can be the smallest of rooms or the largest of warehouses. It can be spare or cluttered. It can be raw or refined. Either or, or somewhere in between, the studio is always about the artist who works in it. Is a telling place. It reveals an artist’s affinities and potential. When it has a lived-in feel and is marked by experience, the studio permeates the art that is produced in it. What you see in a corner, on a table, on a shelf, possesses an intrigue that burns into your memory as strongly as the work you have gone to see – sometimes stronger. You will see tools, ideas, and materials. The way they are laid out, lay bare the artist’s intent and process. The extra dose of insight and information the studio offers, forms a connection to the artist – unobtainable any other way. Seeing artwork in the environment in which it is created is an experience far greater than seeing the same piece on a gallery wall or pedestal. Being invited in, is an honor.
A conversation with artist Rick DeMont and James Schaub, Tohono Chul Curator of Exhibitions
