Furnishing the print opening at ArtSpace Lima
"Furnishing the Suite" is a collaboration based on my Print Project and the work of 14 other artists who have produced artworks based on this idea of "an exploration of the secret life of furnishings. Where did they come from, what happened along the way and, sometimes, where do they end up? The show explores the life cycle of furnishings through the imaginings of a variety of artists."
Oct. 25 -Nov. 2, 2015
65-67 Town Square
Lima, Ohio 45801
Furnishing the Print Suite
The Furnishing the Print suite explores with the parallels between the additive process of silkscreen and the additive process of furnishing your first apartment. It is a fictionalized "narrative" of my own early 80's experience. What struck me was that every larger piece I got for that apartment had a history and that history continued when I "recycled" those pieces eventually, in a variety of ways.
Technically, I began this project with an Adobe Illustrator version that was then transferred to silkscreens and a 14 color hand printed silkscreen was printed, with the help of new CCAD alumni Ben Quinn.
I proposed that other artists might pick up those pieces from before or after my supposed use of them and insert them into a new setting. The additional pieces would be "sequels" or "prequels" of the furniture's life story. These works would be hung with the print and sort of time-lined or graphed out from it. This exhibition has become the upcoming shows "Furnishing the Suite."
Christopher Maslon
Avocado-1970-Stove-Now
I am a neo-pop artist. The challenge of the project was to create a now and then feel to an object in the suite. For inspiration, I reflected backwards to my own childhood. My childhood revolved around the 70s. I am a product of that era. The era’s seemingly innocent tackiness created my inner core character. The works presented to The Suite Collaboration are the representations and impressions of that time. When I was asked to join the Suite Collaboration, my mind instantly recalled our very own family totally ‘in fashion’ avocado green stove and matching avocado green refrigerator with faux wood handles. The Harvest Gold that surrounds my memories is also apart of that connectedness it could be found in our linoleum. The digital technologies that surround us today are of the 70s science fiction. Shows like The 6 million dollar man and Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour still replay in my mind. I can recall as a child watching Star Wars in 1978 on the roof of my father's blue station wagon at a local outdoor drive thru theater. All this lay inspiration for the Suite Collaboration prints. I made it a point to reuse Harvest Gold and the Avocado Green in my work reflect the real deal. And the latter work is now in modern colors of our time. The latter day shows the stove up for sale in a 2000’s world waiting to be claimed. Out of fashion in an ‘out of fashion’ setting.