All That Matters
Paper + scissors + glue = art.
Our dear friend and Laboratory collaborator Rya Kihlstedt is a unique artist, operating in many disciplines. Her latest work All that Matters is on display at the Matter Gallery in Los Angeles. She has a deft ability to pitch colour and subject matter together, torn from our world and repurposed for her world, humming with new life and vitality.
In Rya’s words:
“I remember the first time I saw a Robert Rauschenberg mixed media piece at MOMA. I was riveted. Newspaper and collage and paint and found objects, eagle and all.... I couldn't stop looking at it. I feel the same way about Cy Twombly. I can't really even explain it to you. The art they make grabs me somewhere deep inside my gut. Ever since, I search for art that moves me that way. That grabs my attention from across the gallery, calls me over and demands that I stand in front of it and look. Take it in. Feel something. I am not interested in understanding it, in knowing the story behind it, the whats and whys and whos of it all... I want to feel something and let its story unfold in my mind and become mine.
When I work, I try to follow my heart. I try to allow my instincts to take over and leave my head out of it, see where the colors lead me and what story unfolds as I cut and rip and rearrange the pieces over and over again. My hope is that one of these will speak to you. That you will know the story and understand something in it I may not even know. And it will move you.”
If you are in Los Angeles, she is talking about her work at the gallery on Sunday. It’s worth the trip.
See you there!
