from thread and string.

A piece that really stood out to me at the Fabric Workshop was by the artist Pae White. Pae is an LA based artist who I should already know as she has been at both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial but alas I did not.



Her work at the Fabric Workshop took up the entire top floor of the very unusual space of the museum and was an elaborate but visually quite simple installation of red string. The strings all left from the upper part of the right hand wall to lower down onto the left hand wall in which they ended up spelling out the words "HASTA LA MUERTE" taken from the graffiti near her home. It means "until the death." The power of the words with the visual of the red thread was intense. I felt the work was definitely elevated by its installation space- all alone in a very quiet but industrial, almost unfinished space. I wish I could have more photos to share but they were not allowed.



Pae is an artist that has been creating on the fringe of craft, design, and fiber most of her career.



String being a favorite tool in her tool box.


She also has created very large scale tapestries that appear like crumpled metal. Including a curtain for the New Opera House in Oslo, Norway that looks like crumpled foil.


She has done quiet a few series of chandeliers as well, which are opulent in one way and then because of the simple materials "crafty" in another.


Her work spans many mediums and many projects. In one article:

"I always say to myself, why do I get into this situation where I have no idea how to do this?" -- it is also clear that she thrives on the risk associated with testing unproven fabrication techniques on the large-scale, high-visibility, site-specific projects that have dominated her agenda of the last few years.

Gary Carrion-Murayari, associate curator of the Whitney Biennial, said, Pae often tries to break down illusion, and it makes things funny and exposes them at the same time. There is a sense of joy in her work that I think is unique among contemporary artists.

Go see her project at the fabric workshop, see more of her work here, and read an article here and an interview here.