We are pleased to present our fabric pieces in the latest work by artist Jim Drain. The show, titled Zapf Dingbats was open in December 2018 at Nina Johnson Gallery in Miami. The work included sculptures, drawings, and wallpaper, furthering Drain’s explorations of disparate materials, as well as the history of assemblage, in order to emphasize the liberating potential of intuitive making. These works, which obliquely or explicitly engage the history of utopianism, come at a dark time in American history, and yet, they suggest something brighter, more inclusive.
Here, we got busy artist and new parent Jim to answer a little Q&A.
Peaceable Kingdom (Wolf Satellite)_4JW/FT4EVER, 2018
Painted silk, goat skin leather, shoe laces, grommets, leather, strapping on powder coated rebar, silk screened fabric, beads, knit and embellished donut, wood, 70's car paint welded metal. 72 x 48 x 36 in.
What is your relationship to Osei-Duro?
I am drawn to pattern and kept seeing such fresh ones coming out of Osei-Duro.
What do you do? How did you get started?
I wanted to go to Art School and wanted to be an artist early on without really knowing what that meant. I would see paintings and sculpture and just know THAT! So now I do THAT every day.
What do you love most about your work?
I get to meet people all over the world who are interested in making amazing things.
Peaceable Kingdom (Wolf Satellite)_4JW/FT4EVER, 2018. Detail view.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a 27 foot long tile mural for PS46X in the Bronx. It uses a half-drop repeat in sections and is all about the urban ecology unique to the Bronx.
Where do you find inspiration?
My wife and baby and sometimes my two dogs.
Peaceable Kingdom (OX Satellite)_4JW/FT4EVER, 2018
Recycled clothing and and silkscreen on fabric and clothespins. 72 x 4 x 48 in.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Kiss, feed the dogs while changing the baby's diapers while getting their leashes on for a walk making coffee and checking emails finding a few hours to run to the studio walking the dogs making lunch playing with the baby before putting her down for a nap. checking emails, reading, running to the grocery store, giving the baby a bath, walking the dogs running to the studio for a few more hours, kissing sleeping.
Peaceable Kingdom (Eagle Satellite)_4JW/FT4EVER, 2018
Chicken wire, various fabrics, hand knit fabric and cord, finger puppets (Cusco), 70's car paint welded steel, strapping on powder coated rebar. 36 x 48 36 in.