Nature Inspired Everything

W hen fourth and fifth graders from McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica were viewing the Miriam Wosk exhibit at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, they were excitedly taking notes and talking to each other about what they were seeing. 'It's like a buffet,' one girl said to her friend as they looked at Wosk's 1987 oil and acrylic piece, 'Arabesque,' which features fruit among other items.

Wosk's appealing, vibrant images are on view at the museum through April 20 in 'Abundance and Devotion: The Art of Miriam Wosk.' The retrospective pays homage to the accomplished artist, who died of cancer in 2010 at age 63.

While some artists are known primarily for one style, Wosk's evolution from commercial to fine artist allowed her to express herself in ever-changing ways. She loved Surrealism, and was also inspired by Frieda Kahlo and Tony Fitzpatrick, known for his colorful drawings and collages.

A native of Vancouver, Wosk achieved early success in New York, where her art adorned covers and inside pages of such notable publications as the New York Times, New York, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Ms. magazines. Forsaking that success, she moved west, ending up in a penthouse Frank Gehry designed for her in Beverly Hills, before moving even farther west to Santa Monica.

The current show was the brainstorm of Wosk's son, Adam Gunther, and was put together by SMMoA's executive director, Elsa Longhauser. Wosk's different styles are well represented. The illustrations are mostly from the 1970s while the vibrant, large-scale collages that she focused on later in life contain a multitude of media and household items, including crystals, gold leaf, wire, coral, pearls, beads and glitter.

Artist Kim McCarty met Wosk in the early 1980s, and they later became pregnant with their sons at the same time. McCarty is thrilled that the 23-year-old boys remain close friends and are roommates in Los Angeles. She speaks about her dear friend with love, noting that Wosk was 'bigger than life and a great, very generous person.' At the exhibit's recent opening, McCarty was struck by her pal's 'amazing draftsmanship,' something she was not aware of. 'It was a pleasant surprise,' McCarty told the Palisadian-Post about seeing Wosk's earlier pieces in the show.

The women always talked about art, and though their styles were different, they did run things by each other. 'She was telling me to add more stuff onto my work,' McCarty says. 'I was always telling her to take stuff away. I would come to her studio and she would always be changing things.'

??Wosk took much inspiration from her colorful, sun-drenched Adelaide Drive home, where she lived for about 15 years. SMMoA Director of Marketing Elizabeth Pezza spent time at Wosk's exquisite home. 'She was detail-oriented,' Pezza says. 'She had fireplaces filled with glass that looked beautiful when the fire was burning. She was constantly entertaining, and was friends with many artists.'

I n her well-appointed, well-organized and well-stocked studio Wosk spent many hours working on her art, some of which is in the current show. Ironically, despite her appreciation for natural light, she preferred to 'work late into the night,' McCarty says. 'She had a lot of commitments during the day. Nighttime was her most productive time.'

??Popular culture is represented in the SMMoA show, and familiar faces and items such as Mickey Mouse, Ritz crackers and members of The Who adorn some of Wosk's earlier works. A shawl she knitted, with some sparkly thread, is also on display.

??Wosk made elaborate scrapbooks, filled with people and things that inspired her such as movies, art and fashion, and some are in the exhibit, as are recreations that visitors can flip through.

??In the back room, there is a short movie filmed between 2004 and 2006 that features the artist working in her studio. The movie is broken into segments, and shows Wosk reflecting on her artwork, her craft and her process. 'Everything I do is a stepping stone to the next,' Wosk says.

??For this writer, it was bittersweet seeing the film, watching the vibrant artist who was so involved in the local arts community, knowing she didn't have that much time left.

??In the film, Wosk speaks about falling in love with finger painting during the first day of kindergarten. By fourth grade, she knew her destiny was to be an artist. She also talks about other inspirations: totem poles near where she grew up, female genitalia, the human body, death, dreams and the unconscious. 'I'm a visual glutton,' she says.

??We also see a wall filled with many of Wosk's framed Rorschach paintings in her studio. While working on those she learned to 'allow the paint to flow where it wants to flow. The paint is doing its own dance. I let myself be surprised.'

??It is inspiring to see Wosk delicately adding glitter to a piece on her work table or paint to a painting hanging on the wall. She is focused, and there is an ease to how she places things.

All I can do is do my work as impeccably as possible and let go of the outcome,' she says. 'If the work is authentic, that's the success.'

??In my 2010 interview with Wosk, a huge admirer of Robert Rauschenberg, she commented on one of his quotes: 'It is impossible to have progress without conscience.'

I find it is constant work to remain conscious; it is such an elusive state. But without that awareness, there would be no science (con-science), art literature, progress or anything.

For many years I have done dream work, to know myself better and to become friends with the unconscious'the language of the soul. It is the same language that art comes from.

Like Rauschenberg, we as artists bring to light and illuminate that which already exists but not all can see. As imagery arises through one's consciousness, from the imagination it manifests into energy, matter and form. The world has been blessed with the gift of something it has never seen before'that is progress.'

??McCarty, married to Michael McCarty of Michael's restaurant, says that the Santa Monica restaurant has one of Wosk's pieces on view now, and that she has been featured in the restaurant many times.

??Wosk worked until the end. 'Her best work was when she was ill,' McCarty says. 'She let everything go. Even when she couldn't do collages she was knitting. She was always doing something.'