One of the unexpected privileges of being an older artist is the tacit permission to be unapologetically clear about what you love and what you don’t. Strong opinions come from decades of looking at art—carefully, closely, and with deep engagement. Like many of my friends who have also put in the time, we know what moves us. So, it is a privilege I cherish to share that with you. Thank you for reading, listening, and considering.
Every generation leans into the particularities of its cohort’s lens, but it remains a sacred act to choose what to look at, what to place in a living space, what work is worth a five-hour drive to see in person, and what is significant enough to be featured in a film.
That’s the world I’m immersed in right now. My lifelong friend, artist George Wingate (many posts about him appear on Slow Muse), is now the subject of what I am certain will be an extraordinary film. This project, helmed by the sharp and insightful filmmaker—and devoted Wingate fan—Mary Hanlon, is evolving into a moving and much-needed story about living a creative life outside the Art World’s well-trodden travel lanes.
Wingate shares a kinship with the great master painter Giorgio Morandi:
“He never fitted into the declamatory, self-aggrandizing mode of the most prominent 20th-century masters. He was a quiet, almost reclusive, and deeply thoughtful man, content to explore his own artistic preoccupations without concern for the expectations of the fast-paced world of artistic fashion.”
— Philippe de Montebello
George brings that rare and delicate sensibility into the 21st century. I’m fully on board with George, with Mary, and with the making of this film. (More about the film here.)
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I’m also fully on board with making the five-hour drive from Boston to Easton, Pennsylvania, to see Debra Weisberg’s latest body of work, Embrangledscape, installed at Lafayette College’s Williams Center Gallery since January.
Lobby and Williams Center Gallery, Lafayette College
Installation view
Weisberg is hardworking, disciplined, and immensely gifted. A respected doyenne of the Boston art scene, she is quick-witted and generous, explosively energetic and curious. As an inspired teacher (currently at Boston College) and a cherished art-viewing companion, her lush and complex work fills my home.
Weisberg discussing the work with students
This latest installation is a testament to her exquisite sensibilities. Her hand is ever present in the work, a conflagration of meticulously wrought artifacts made from materials that feel both earthy and natural, yet slightly otherworldly and ethereal. Natural systems of growth and movement come to mind—roots, lava flows, mycelial networks, spiderwebs, microbials, and crystalline ice structures. Her work speaks to the relentless creative energy of a world where change is endless, unstoppable, and full of surprises.
A significant expansion of Weisberg’s visual syntax comes from the introduction of a new material—Fosshape, which she discovered while a resident at the Golden Foundation. This heat-moldable medium allows her to manipulate form with a fresh register of color, texture, and tactility. It is a perfect material for her way of working, and I can’t wait to see where she takes it next.
New iterations, freestanding
A standout feature of Embrangledscape is the inclusion of Paula Gil Higa’s award-winning dance video, The Migrant Body, embedded within Weisberg’s wall-sized lobby installation. This collaboration intertwines the suggestion of ubiquitously complex living forms with Higa’s meditative exploration of immigration, transience, and invisibility. Her concept of the migrant nature of the human journey finds a provocative alignment with the syntax of Weisberg’s organic, earthy world. Several improvisational performances took place within the exhibit (I had the privilege of seeing one last Thursday night), furthering the dialogue between visual language and movement.
A blending of the visions of both Weisberg and Higa
Higa performing in the installation
Like underground mycelium, Weisberg’s forms seem to propagate perpetually. I can already sense the stirrings of the next iteration, restlessly pulsing and percolating.
A hearty shoutout to curator Ricardo Reyes for the vision to bring an exhibit of this caliber to Lafayette College.
Reyes and Weisberg
One last note: In the spirit of “I love what I love,” here’s a prior essay featuring Wingate, Weisberg and Wallace Stevens.