I love these out of scale, dollhouse views of Claire Coles‘ wallpaper designs. All of her papers are handmade and it’s easy to get a sense of her artistry when looking at them this way.

Without art I would be totally lost. When I need to clear my head and make room for creativity, the first thing I do is head to a museum. Or as Thelma Golden calls it, “the think tank.” Ms. Golden always  inspires me…

Two weeks ago I headed to Phillips after 5 at the The Phillips Collection, the first museum in the US dedicated to Modern Art. In a collaboration with Project Beltway and  Neiman Marcus,  the museum,  put on Fashion Follows Art, an abbreviated showing of Jason Wu’s Fall Collection 2010 for TSE with the art of Robert Ryman. Jason Wu’s fall collection was inspired by Ryman’s art and an exhibit of his work in on view at the museum. It was a great event, but it was really crowded, partially because of torrential downpours.  So you can get a feel of the beauty that I saw, I must share this wonderful slide show comparing the two.

I found myself in awe of Ryman’s abstractions and his exploration of  impermanence and the layered, tactile nature of them, even more  than Jason Wu’s  collection. I actually felt the yearning to reach out and touch the art but luckily I refrained.  However I can’t shake the feeling that I really need to go back and see these small scale paintings again. This teaser of the exhibit is helping me in the meantime.

Sometimes, all I want to do is sit in a gallery and just absorb all the creative energy around me.  I can see why Jason Wu was so inspired.

This past Friday and Saturday Night was the Interwoven event at the Textile Museum. I mentioned it here a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I could only make the Friday Night performances but let me tell you, the event was pretty awesome. Even with the heat there was a great turn out and lots of captivating performances.

So where shall we start? I know, Peggy Noland…

I’m always both intrigued and perplexed by performance art. I LOVE installations, but when you throw in people I’m never sure that I quite get it. But hey I’m down, even if it’s just to play voyeur.  I’m not sure any of us quite got it on Friday and I don’t mean that as a slight. I really think  that is the point  with performance art in  some cases as with Peggy Noland’s piece. During the Q&A, she would go later to infer that beyond the Costume she wore, she also didn’t know what to expect during the performance. As a crowd we laughed, stood in awe, some even “understood” and one man got nervous ( he told me that), but mostly we took it in, with Peggy Noland before us on a lone delicate chair (hmm…that’s an interesting juxtapostion).

After a while people stopped staring at Peggy’s balloons and walked up and asked her questions, most notably “why?” by a mother with her two children. Beneath her shroud of latex, Noland remarked that above all she intrigued by the nature textiles and the transformation of objects into textiles. OK, cool. I can totally get down with the conceptual nature of her approach, even if i don’t quite get the outcome. She welcomed interaction with an openness and gentility (even when someone blew up one of her balloons in a compromising um…area)which I believe speaks to who she is as both a designer and artist. After all, she sells her wares for people to wear; fashion is a communication art and interplay is key (though she didn’t know  or see the location of said balloon). An artists, like Peggy Noland, makes me want to investigate more It almost makes me wish I was had a paper to write on her. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing another performance piece.

Next up is the performance by the fashion collective, ThreeASFOUR. And I have to say I LOVED this performance. Through the lens of fashion as performance art, ThreeASFOUR gave DC a taste of their S/S 2010 Fashion  Show. It was collaborative with  Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono with the clothing based on Ono’s drawings, which they interpreted via fashion into prints and 3D designs. However, the performance itself is a variation of Yoko Ono’s original 1968 perfomance where people cut Ono’s clothes off. Never a dull moment when Yoko’s around!

But above, all their performance was about construction.  In the performance, each model, had a duty to fulfill; cut along the 24 numbered seams. For ThreeAsFour their are no side or back seams so lines follow the body. In the end the dress looks something like this. I know what your thinking, the dress isn’t a dress anymore. But the dress get put back together (not on stage) and the process begins anew. It’s cyclical, just like those circular seams.  The whole performance was rather grand and conceptually intriguing.

Here’s a better view two of the dresses they showed (I’m in love with the first one):

So that was my fabulous night at the Textile Museum and here I am still intrigued by the artists. Since I started going there several years back, The Textile Museum has really become one of my favorite museums. Maybe I’ll see you at the next event.

Later today, I’ll show you what I wore.

No that’s not a typo. Recently,  along with Vouge Black, I’ve grown addicted to The New Yooxer,  the design webzine produced by yoox.com. It covers everything art and fashion to architecture. Featured interviews have included Angela Missoni and architect Zaha Hadid.

Currently the site has me obsessed with seeing Chiara Clemente’s film “Our City Dreams“, wherein she tells the story 5 different women artists of different ages, 30-80 and how they come to live and love New York.

Here’s the Trailer:

Hmmm…the city as muse, love it! Plus, the lives of artists completely fascinates me, so you know that this movie is calling my name.

When you think of textiles, do you think of Performance Art? If you are in DC on July 23-24th, then you should. Those are the days when the Textile Museum is presenting “Interwoven:  Evenings in Performance.”

With themes on both nights including the exploration of rituals and constructed space in the mediums of installation, film and performance, Interwoven opens with performance pieces  by designer Peggy Noland ( who was featured in Teen Vogue) and  conceptual fashion collective, threeASFOUR ( I love when fashion comes to town) .

{a  sample work from Peggy Noland}

{images  from nyfw, featuring threeASFOUR}

July 24th will feature new works by Copenhagen-based duo Henrik Vibskov & Andreas Emenius‘ work.You can see more  samples of  their work, below as well as, here and here.

(all images courtesy of the textile museum}

Interwoven also features Q&A’s on both nights led by artist Sabrina Gschwandtner, whose own work was feature in the exhibition Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting.  It all sounds so quirky and fun, I’m not sure how they will be able to fit it into 2 nights!

I think artist Leigh Viner’s work is stunning and the amount of mediums she works in is inspiring! In fact I often e-stalk her Etsy shop. In fact, that’s where I saw one of her latest works “Lune” and my mouth dropped because it’s so beautiful. Her eyes are at  once powerfully inviting and haunting. Loves it!

Right now, I’m just trying to figure out what size to buy it.  Check out her inspiration behind Leigh’s piece here and more of her work here.

Yesterday, Art 21 tweeted about artist Julie Mehretu and her show opening at the Guggenheim on Friday. Her work  is just what I need to see.  Hopefully I can find a few minutes to head there while I’m in NYC this weekend (fingers crossed). Colorful and abstract, Mehretu’s work is the perfect inspiration.

{black ground via pixelmark}

I had heard about her work several years ago, when her work was exhibited as part of this exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art, but aside from reading about her work, I never got to see any of her work in person. I really missed out.

{congress, 2003 via art 21}

For me as a designer, it means more to me now to see her work and to know and understand the beauty of the architectural leanings and spatial concepts in her work.

For more inspiration, take a look at  these videos…

My one question: Has Maharam contacted her regarding one of their awesome artist collaborations? Mehretu’s work would make amazing textiles or wall installations for their Digital Projects Collection.

Hello My loves!!! We made to the end of another week. I hope it was fabulous, and you weekend even more so.

There are so many amazing, busy, crazy things going on right now, I must remember to take a minute to appreciate it all. More to come on that next week. I’m off  today, with a short post, as we have a photoshoot at work, about which I’m pretty excited. I’m pretty obsessed with interior photography right now, so to see the process is pretty exciting.  And although, I’m literally running out the door, I thought I’d leave you with one of the most beautiful interior images I’ve ever seen on the cover of a magazine.

{image via miss jane}

This image, by Jonny Valiant, graced the May 2009 cover of House Beautiful and when I saw it, I stopped completely in my tracks . HELLO GOREGEOUS! I’m not sure if the designer styled it, but the image is lovely. It’s the perfect inspiration for a beautiful weekend in May!

Happy Weekend!

xoxo, Jessica

I hope I’m not terribly late on this, but while researching Wednesday’s Perfect Room I came across Lonny Photo. Yes, the creative team behind Lonny Magazine, Patrick Cline and Michelle Adams, have also formed a photo and styling practice. The best part is that the photos are a available on Etsy. Of course, I had to share a few that I really enjoy with you.

Lady Yellow

Tree Hugger

Lady Red

Autumn by the Sea

On Lonny Photo’s etsy site you will find a curated selection of print ranging from animal photos and landscapes to interesting objects.  I find the available photos quite lovely, in their serenity and quirkiness. And the best part? The prints are in limited edition quantities  and are signed by Patrick Cline.