Bio: Judith Schaechter, 65, Philadelphia
Title of work: Golden Hour
Where to see it: “Super/Natural,” Claire Oliver Gallery, New York
Three words to describe this work: Ultra-vivid, hyper-natural, dreamvision
What was on your mind at the time: How to make a children’s drawing as an adult. How to stretch my imagination to its limits. In Creative and Mental Growth, child psychologist Viktor Lowenfeld describes ages 7-9 as the Schematic Stage. At this time, children develop symbols for things in the world. The radiating sun is one of the most obvious examples: a circle to stand for the sun, with lines to signify light or heat. Another would be individual blades of grass growing up from the bottom line of the page used to symbolize the ground.
In Golden Hour, I used this very recognizable schema as the organizing principle to arrange doodled elements of flora. Basically, I just wanted to create a garden of imagined images—a big theme of my work for a while now.
An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: The glass itself is an opal white. In sunlight it can cast a pinkish or amber light. It’s always changing!
How the work reflects your practice as a whole: I think it’s false to find meaning only in the conceptual aspect. I am always concerned with using traditional stained glass technique to create something that stretches the boundaries of the medium both technically and conceptually.
The piece required an intense focus on “being in the present” with the image. Each stroke of the brush was an infinite world unto itself…more or less. The downside is that’s a hard place to get to mentally, but the upside is that’s very self-soothing!
Long live the unity of mind and body.
One song that captures the work’s essence: “Still Dreaming” Eric Luttrell
