Light in the Forest, 2020 (courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery).
For California-based artistHolly Lane, the picture frame is far from superfluous.
Lanes solution was at once simple and radical: create a frame as grand as the painting it surrounds.
“Light in the Forest,” 2020 (courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery).
Since then, Lanes practice has been defined by a symbiosis between picture and frame.
Read on for our exclusive interview with the artist.
Holly Lane creating Gentle Muse (2010)
What originally sparked your fascination with the frame?
Holly Lane creating “Gentle Muse” (2010)
While an undergraduate in painting I began thinking about frames.
A good frame was to be inconspicuous.
Sometimes the borders had naughty creatures spoofing the text, even mooning the textthat was my moment of epiphany.
“Cottonwood Moon,” 2023 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery)
In doing so, I seek to address two spatial modes of aesthetic perception.
By fusing sculptural frames with pictorial images, I hope to address both these modes of human aesthetic perception.
These architectural frames are a stand-in for the human mind, culture, and consciousness.
“Not Enough Time to Love the World,” 2022 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery)
By placing nature inside an architectural frame, I show nature as held within our minds.
This stage is fluid with interchanges, additions, and subtractions going on in my sketchbook.
It took two years of steadily working with guest curator Helaine Glick, from proposal to opening reception.
“Wading Through Amber,” 2020 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery)
Once the proposal was accepted by NUMU, Helaine guided every detail.
For instance, she took my artists statements and streamlined them for the wall text.
It has been a wonderful experience.
“Companions, The Three Graces,” 2021 (Photo: Patrick Tregenza, courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery)
Unfortunately, we could not gather enough of these works from around the country for this exhibition.
Im looking forward to revisiting Fortuna, the capricious ancient Roman goddess of fortune and luck.
She enables me to indulge my sense of humor.
“We Shall Rise,” 2024 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Winfield Gallery)
The classification of favorites is tricky.
That said, there are some works in this exhibition that currently cling especially tightly to my mind.
These are just a few qualities Id like to explore more in future works.
Image from Holly Lane’s “Not Enough Time to Love the World” exhibition (Photo: Rutvik Katkoriya)
Being an artist is the most connected and expansive work I have ever been a part of.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Image from Holly Lane’s “Not Enough Time to Love the World” exhibition (Photo: Rutvik Katkoriya)
“Eudaimonia and the Four Pillars of the Sky,” 2010 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist)
