Completed! Woven Upholstery Re-Design of Breuer's Iconic "Wassily" Chair

From 5 yards of striped upholstery fabric I created 125 yards (375 feet) of handmade webbing which I wove onto the iconic Marcel Breuer "Wassily" Chair frame.  

This is my first weaving project and it proved more challenging than I thought.  The armature created both opportunities and constraints that lead to hours upon hours of trial and error.  It was arduous both mentally and physically and infinitely, infinitley rewarding.

A friend jokingly called this project blasphemous.  Perhaps in some ways it is, but now the chair is more comfortable than the original and far more tactile.  It has inspired new ideas for original armatures with alternate weaving strategies.

Upholstery Re-design Underway of Marcel Breuer's "Wassily" Chair

About two years ago I purchased an old Wassily Chair frame at a thrift store in California, and since then I've been thinking of ways to return the chair to a usable piece of furniture.

The "Wassily Chair" was designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925-1926.  It is also known as the Model B3 chair and was created while he was the head of the cabinet-making workshop at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany.  Inspired by Breuer's love for his own bicycle, he created the frame of chrome plated tubular steel.  The original upholstery panels were made of canvas, but later productions used leather.

Wassily" chair, 1925
Marcel Breuer (American, born Hungary, 1902–1981)
Chrome-plated steel, canvas upholstery

Building upon the concepts and materials of the Eames Rocker that I transformed last year as part of BMoCA's and Design Within Reach's White Space event, I've created my own lacing once again to weave upholstery panels in place of canvas or leather.

The project is still in progress, but should be done in a few days.  I'll then upload images of the finished piece under the Projects section of this site.

Many Thanks to the Coloring Volunteers

After speaking on the Untitled Art Show about my Powers of Ten series, I've been thinking so much about the wonderful individuals who helped me out with all of the coloring that had to be done for this series.  As I ran out of time to finish the drawings on my own, so many people came to help.  Here are some photos of these tremendous individuals.

I think I managed to get an image of everyone - my incredibly supportive and infinitely loving Mom and Dad, my patient, encouraging and spectacular husband Mathias Leppitsch, my great great friend Jessica Riquetti who came out from Oakland to help, Tallie Dietz who tirelessly helped many many days at hours upon hours at a time, Liz Green who dedicated so many hours and much enthusiasm, Sabin Aell and Randy Rushton, Rachel Prago, Chase DeForest, Libby Saeger, Jamie Marchbank, Philip May, Gretchen Schaefer, Rebecca Peebles, Cindy Frigard, Jeremiah Hueske, John Grimberg, Jose Medina, Janice Schindler, Andi Todaro, Adam Gildar, Sander Lindeke, Owen Gordon, Whitney Stephens and Lindsay Roome.  You are all so generous, creative and enjoyable to work with.  I am so happy to have you in my community!  Thank you!

LIVE on the Untitled Art Show Tonight!

I'll be on the Untitled Art Show tonight at 8pm MST which is a weekly, internet talk-radio show focused on visual art and the visual art world.

You can listen directly at their website: Untitled Art Show whenever you like.  My section of the interview begins at 18:40 minutes.

I'll be talking in general about my art and specifically about my last show at Gildar Gallery where I showed the Powers of Ten this past September. 

Powers of Ten (grouped), 30" x 40", ink and colored pencil, 2012

New Mask Series in the Works

Ottomans Created as Part of New "Vogel Vau" Furniture Line

Nesting Ottomans by Pattie Lee Becker & Mathias Leppitsch

I recently began collaborating with my husband Mathias Leppitsch on a furniture line for a newly founded company called Vogel Vau, a design collective that is composed of us and our two good friends Sabin Aell and Randy Rushton.  Our first project is a set of three nestling ottomans.  I created the textile design which was inspired by my recent Powers of Ten series and Mathias and I worked together on the overall furniture design.  These ottomans stack one on top of the other and also nestle close together.   They are currently being exhibited as part of Design By Colorado's exhibition that is being held at the McNichols Civic Center Building in downtown Denver through April of 2013.

Tornado Drawings

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once-Mine is Now Ours, 15" x 22", 2011

In 2011, I was struck by the large quantity of tornadoes that were ripping through the US as far east as Massachusetts. It was unprecedented and being from Kansas, I felt somehow that something of mine was being lost. I knew that I wanted to do a series of sculptures and drawings that investigated tornadoes, and What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours is that exploration. The title responds to my personal sense of perceived loss and also to the emotional and physical collision of the families directly affected by a tornado’s path.  What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours is the first drawing in the series.

As I Slept You Carried Me and We Listened as You Moved On are two new pieces in the tornado series, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours.  These works are also depictions of my personal relationship to tornadoes.

When I was a young child there was once a tornado whipping through town in the late evening while I slept.  My dad carried me to the basement and with my mom and brother, we all waited there listening to the radio report for the storm to pass.  We were most likely in the basement for a half hour or so, and then we returned to our beds.  These times were exciting.  Rushing to the cellar, listening to the voices on the small radio, hearing the wind outside, heading back upstairs to check the damages and seeing the green black sky recede into the distance.  The next morning when I went to breakfast my older brother was talking about the previous night's experience and I didn't know what he was talking about.  I had slept through the entire storm.  My father had taken me out of bed, carried me downstairs and then back up to bed, and I never awoke.  This non memory has always had a profound effect on me.  As I Slept You Carried Me is a non memory drawing of that storm.

We Listened as You Moved On represents a less specific memory.  There were storms every spring and early summer that made us run back to the house or bike home from the park to be safe in our basement.  These moments were fast, colorful, loud and dreamy.  This drawing investigates that energy, that pull and motion.

Botanical Plate Collaboration with Asya Palatova of Gleena Ceramics

In 2007 I collaborated with Asya Palatova of Gleena Ceramics on a set of plates.  Her work is truly lovely with all of her porcelain tableware pieces handmade by Asya in her studio in Pawtucket, RI.  This collaboration was brainstormed by the wondrous Sara Grady as a wedding gift for a dear friend of ours.   Sara now works as Vice President of Programming at Glynwood Farm which is located in the lower Hudson Valley in Cold Spring, NY.  She writes for Edible Hudson Valley and created a great film about Glynwood Farm.  I miss her! It was such an honor to work with these women on this project.  Our friend was married in Joshua Tree National Park, and in celebration of this, the illustrations depict various joshua tree blossoms.  I would LOVE to get these plates into production.

Botanical illustrations by Pattie Lee Becker & Plates by Asya Palatova

Botanical illustrations by Pattie Lee Becker & Plates by Asya Palatova

Botanical illustrations by Pattie Lee Becker & Plates by Asya Palatova

Botanical illustrations by Pattie Lee Becker & Plates by Asya Palatova

Peanut People

Elyse Allen, artist and designer extraordinaire, taught me how to make both rope and peanut people.  She is a remarkable woman.  I know of very few artists who can make stunningly gorgeous things while actively pursuing the art of play.  Once we collaborated on a whole troupe of peanut people circus performers.  They were incredible.  Elyse is a favorite of mine and I do believe a good peanut people making session is in high order. But be careful if you make them, because once I had a large family of peanut people in a cold non-winterized sun room that I avoided until warmer weather, and upon returning to it in the Spring, I found a slaughter - all of the their bodies had been eaten away by mice!

Peanut People by Pattie Lee Becker & Inspired by Elyse Allen

Open Letters Monthly - Interview

Pattie Lee Becker, Rebirth to the Stars, 14" x 17", 2005

A colleague of mine at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Katie Caron, invited me to participate in an interview with the online art and literature review  Open Letters Monthly.  The questions were thought provoking and I enjoyed the opportunity to speak for my work in such a direct way.  The cover image they chose is of an older drawing titled "Rebirth to the Stars."  I loved returning to this piece, remembering its creation and narrative.   There is a lot of discussion about "What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours," the large tornado sculpture that I exhibited at RMCAD in September.  Read the interview here.

Woodcut Collaboration

Music and Humanity, woodcut, 30" x 30", 2011

Back in April of this year, Stephen Prochyra of Vostok Press invited me to collaborate on a woodcut project.  It was an honor for me to work with him.  His work is purposeful and poignant, beautifully drawn and painted with honesty and integrity.  Stephen is a great artist and part of an ever expanding group of individuals that know how to keep time for themselves while generously sharing their passions and time with others.  We created a four color reduction print, 30" x 30", titled Balance, Music and Humanity.  Prints are available for purchase.  Please contact me if you are interested.  All sales are split equally between me and Stephen.

One of My Lightning Bolts

I just discovered this photo of my nephew that I took the night of my What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours opening at RMCAD in early September.  A huge storm was brewing as friends arrived and I was grateful for the dynamic weather that paralleled my tornado sculpture.  The sky felt enormous and saturated. Unbelievably,  my sweet five year old nephew Sam found a plastic golden lightening bolt in the dirt right in front of the gallery.  He held it up to the sky and I shot this image.  So much beauty.  I love that a plastic piece of otherwise junk takes on so much significance and relevance.

Eames Rocker Transfomed for White Space

As part of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art's White Space event, sponsored by Design Within Reach, six artists were invited to transform the Eames plastic molded rocker.  I chose to upholster the chair with hand made lacing that I made from some black and white plaid fabric. I loved thinking about the relationship between art and design and hope to work more with furniture. There is something so honest about working with form and function. The other participating artists were: Sabin Aell, Allan Andre, Donald Fodness, Alvin Gregorio and Xi Zhang.

The Process: Templates were made and attached, holes were punched to mark the drill hole locations, holes were drilled and the weaving implemented.

Pattie Lee Becker transformed Eames chair (process)

Pattie Lee Becker transformed Eames chair (process)

Pattie Lee Becker transformed Eames chair (process)

Pattie Lee Becker transformed Eames chair (process)

The finished piece:

Pattie Lee Becker-transformed Eames chair

Pattie Lee Becker-transformed Eames chair

Pattie Lee Becker-transformed Eames chair

Pattie Lee Becker-transformed Eames chair

Rope Pile Triptych Billboard in Downtown Denver

Rope Pile Triptych is shown on a massive billboard in downtown Denver as part of the Denver Theater District's (DTD) mission to present the arts more visibly around town. The billboard is located on 16th and Champa. Check it out if you're in the area. There are lots of great artworks presented around town, so keep your eyes open.

Pattie Lee Becker, Rope Pile Triptych Billboard, 2011

What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours

Last spring I was invited to exhibit at RMCAD in their small Rude Gallery.  The space is 15 feet by 8 feet with 12 foot tall ceilings.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to investigate for my new body of work, but by July I had decided on tornadoes.  Growing up in Kansas, I have always identified with tornadoes as they were a constant force every year that brought curiosity, fear and excitement to the late spring and early summer days.  The sky grows dark and ominous, turns to a moody grey green, then a stillness and the storm breaks in.  Great thunderstorms with vast lightning would streak across the skies and there was a real sense of being alive.

As tornadoes swept across the US in unprecedented areas this year, I felt that my personal identification with them was somehow shifted.   "What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours" is a new series of artwork that explores these thoughts.  The Rude Gallery exhibition contains a large tornado sculpture based on one of my drawings.  Exhibition dates are August 26th through October 7th, 2011.  A painting, drawing and printmaking exhibition of the same title will be held at Naropa's Lincoln Gallery in October.

THE SCULPTURE

The sculpture "What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours" is made of steel, wire, wood, fabric, fiber fill, paint, sand, hand made rope, papier mache and fur.  Mathias Leppitsch donated so much time in helping me by welding the armature, problem solving potential issues, assisting in the planning and install and in general making sure that I kept my cool as time ran out.  Major thanks goes out to him.

Sewing:

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (process), 2011

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (process), 2011

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (process), 2011

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (process), 2011

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (process), 2011

Concrete Stair Construction:

Installing:

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours (installation), 2011

The finished piece:

Pattie Lee Becker, What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours, 2011

General Update

It has been a whirlwind of a year. Between teaching loads of classes at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD), Naropa University and CU Boulder, moving to Denver and making art, I've neglected posting news about all the wild and cool stuff I've been up to. I can't seem to update my website, so I'm considering shifting over primarily to this blog. The school year has started up again. I'm teaching Drawing, 2D Design, and Contemporary Art Studio this semester. When I'm not teaching I'm working on a new body of work about tornadoes. And when I'm not working on that Mathias and I are continuing to build out our live/work studio.

2900 build-out, wall with ladder

I hope that you are all well and looking forward to the coming of autumn. More to come soon. Enjoy.

Awesome Eraser Collection

The amount of erasers on this site is mind blowing.  Great forms and colors and patterns.  Check it out: http://borrandoque.wordpress.com/ Her collection puts mine to shame, in fact, now I don't think I even have one.  Enjoy.

Kala Art Institute Printmaking Residency

In July and August, I went out to Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California and worked on a series of etchings that investigate psychological space. Here are four finished works from the series:

Pattie Lee Becker, Intruder, etching, 9" x 12", 2010

Pattie Lee Becker, Blockaded Inside Dream Travel, etching, 9" x 12", 2010

Pattie Lee Becker, Discussions on Fear, etching, 9" x 12", 2010

I'd forgotten just how much I love to make prints.  Back in college, it was the act of making etchings that changed everything for me, foregoing a major in philosophy for one in art.  The process is mesmerizing and so tactile.  The beauty of the copper plate inked up and ready for printing - so seductive.  Here are some images of the process:

Registration Guide

Preparing the ink

Inking the plate

Wiping the plate with tarlatan

Palm wiping

Ready for Printing

Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo

Poetry reading and sculptural performance for the chapbook launch of Dana Elkun's Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo.  Performed at Endden Bellegrade in Boulder, Colorado on 18 March 2010.  Read by Dana Elkun.  Designed & Performed by Pattie Lee Becker and Lacey Coover.

Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo book signing

Pre-show at Endden Bellegrade

Pre-show: curtain going up

"The Iridologist said, ...."  (performance)

"The Iridologist said, ...."  (performance)

"Less You" (performance)

"Less You" (performance)

"The Essence of the Owl" (performance)

"The Essence of the Owl" (performance)

"Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo" (performance)

"Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo" (performance)

"Black Box Theater as Abandoned Zoo" Performance

Anderson Ranch Arts Center

I've been up at Anderson Ranch for three weeks now, and have one week left.  This place is amazing.  It's downtime for the Ranch and for me.  They are in between their summer programs and winter residencies, and I am the only visiting artist up here. The initial week was challenging as I adjusted to an empty studio and extremely solitary hours.  I had some sort of existential crisis as I wondered for days about the meaning of art and of being an art-maker.  It's hard to find motivation for making a new body of work when you are confounded by your day to day movements and desires. I was struggling.  I sought out Clarissa Pinkola Estes and Alan Watts.  I took walks and processed. 

Time progressed and I settled in, and then, art making became exciting once more, less cerebral and more active.  I've compiled a ton of ideas, studies, prototypes, and should have a handful of finished pieces by the time's end.  I feel grateful to be up here, and after lots of tail spinning and questioning, re-invigorated to be an artist.

It's been an amazing time to explore new ideas and to free myself from my intensive drawing practice.  My drawings have always informed my sculptures, but it is seldom that I get to focus this much energy and time on the creation of the sculptures.   The facilities here are mind blowing, and so I've tried to take advantage of them.   Here are a few images of the sculptures in progress that I've been working on while here at Anderson Ranch:

Finger Boomerangs (in progress)

Relational Bonfire (in progress)

Relational Bonfire (detail)

The Struggle of Multilateralism

Kindling for finger boomerang base

Diamond frame for weaving (in progress)

I'll be leaving soon, fueled by my new work and the experience here.  It has been a gift.  Genuinely.  For those of you who don't know about Anderson Ranch, please check it out.  They have amazing summer workshops,  a fabulous residency program, and many other noteworthy things.  Also, the people up here are generous, kind, and awesome.