Whether casually chatting with friends, having a business meeting or being interviewed by the media, stationing yourselves in front of your bookcase seems to be the default way to communicate in these times. Our books send a message, “Yes, I do read.”
The books give clues to our tastes and personalities. The seriousness of PBS NewsHour put Judy Woodruff showing off a red room of books to match her hair coloring. One would think with her penchant for red dresses, we would find historian Lucy Worsley surrounded by red books — but she opts for a contrasting blue and grey wall of books without a red tome in sight. Comedian Seth Myers manipulated old copies of his mother’s favorite book, The Thorn Birds. And not at all funny, yet ironic, Betsy DeVos, the amoral and corrupt Secretary of “Education”, posed in front of a bookcase devoid of books.
The times we live in can certainly influence an artist’s work. I am no exception. While I have always lived surrounded by books, my inspiration came from a brief video posted by San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum. I discovered Chaekgeori — it’s a Korean still-life where the artist depicts books and objects on shelves. My color-coded bookcases demanded to be painted. Soon after, I started asking friends for photos of their bookcases. In some ways, each painting is as much a portrait as it is a still life.
All paintings are acrylic on paper, 9"x12". These are the first ones, with more to follow.
