Stories By Marga Patterson
Ancient
Living Memories: The Funerary Stelae of Ancient Cyprus
January 20, 2021The majority of sculpture that survives from ancient Cyprus are funerary stelae, elaborate grave markers to commemorate the dead. Possessing an almost mystical quality that is highly evocative and equally arresting, these emphatic monuments preserve a...
21st century
The Ephemeral Magic of Raw Clay: Artist Interview with Phoebe Cummings
January 15, 2021Phoebe Cummings (b.1981) is a British sculptress-ceramics artist working primarily with unfired, living clay in its raw state. She creates time-based installations that are extremely detailed, delicate, and multi-layered. Phoebe’s exquisite clay sculptures pulse with an...
Ancient
The Fascinating Ceramic Tile Art of the Anatolian Seljuks
December 30, 2020The ceramic tile art of the Anatolian Seljuks dazzled with its mystical turquoise hues, fantastical creatures, and figural depictions. So, who were the Anatolian Seljuks and what inspired them to create such wildly, imaginative ceramic tiles?...
Art Travels
The Colors of the Earth and Beyond: Artist İnterview with Ulrike Arnold
December 17, 2020Ulrike Arnold (b. 1950) is a contemporary German artist working with earth pigments that she gathers by hand. For the last forty years, she has traveled to all seven continents and collected earth pigments while working...
20th century
Maya Deren: Experimental Filmmaker and Voodoo Priestess
November 30, 2020Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker hailed as a leading pioneer of avant-garde cinema. She was also a writer, poet, photographer, ethnographer and dancer. Her poetic and surreal, 16 mm films layered dreams and realities...
Art State of Mind
Artistic Families: Does Having an Artist Parent Seal Your Fate as an Artist?
November 26, 2020Imagine growing up with an artist mother or father. Watching them create art or making work together could spark your artistic passion. And, influenced and inspired by your parents’ creativity, there’s a good chance you grow...
21st century
Pollen, Purity and Patience: A journey of creation with Wolfgang Laib
November 11, 2020Wolfgang Laib (born 1950) is a contemporary German sculptor. He works with natural materials that emanate life energies: milk, pollen, rice and beeswax along with wood, stone and brass to create large- scale, site-specific installations. Laib...
20th century
Mirror Mosaics and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
October 14, 2020Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922-2019) was a contemporary, Iranian artist who became a living legend while she was still alive. Her oeuvre included multi-disciplines: drawing, painting, monotypes, textiles, collage, and large-scale sculptures. Monir is best known for...
21st century
Traversing the Unseen: Interview with Multi-Media Artist Sara Osebold
September 23, 2020Sara Osebold (b. 1975) is a contemporary, multi-media artist who creates drawings and sculptures and is based in Seattle. The artist’s work takes us on a sensory journey adding a dose of visual medicine. Mixed media drawings...
Art Forms
The Magic and Splendor of Karagöz, Turkish Shadow Puppets
September 17, 2020Evoking the imagination of adults and children for centuries, Karagöz (Black Eye in Turkish) is a popular and beloved Turkish shadow puppet character as well as the name of the shadow puppet theater in Turkish culture....
