ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
MATTHEW BRAUNGINN
We live in a time when we are pushed to swipe for the next video, the next person to date. The media, the world, even our emotions have become something to be consumed before we move on to the next thing. And much of the contemporary art being produced is just that, a production; it is artificial, even if made by humans. It's designed to be consumed, to sit as decoration, an aesthetic without insight. Higgs's art is meant to challenge that, to challenge those behaviors and ideas, working to capture the layers of humanity, and in turn the divine that we all exist within; the search for or experience of existence.
Matthew who creates under the name Higgs, intends to challenge viewers to slow down and engage not just with his art, but with how the art guides their emotions, and how those emotions, in turn, guide their viewing of the art, themselves, and the world around them. To sit with discomfort, thoughtfulness, warmth, heaviness, or ease; whatever may come to the surface. To bring their lived experiences and let the piece speak to them, as they speak back at it. But this can only be done by slowing down, not by swiping to the next piece.
ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES
I MARRIED ADVENTURE
I knew long before our first meeting. Beauty beyond compare. Legendary. You were the one to take me away…” or so a story goes.
I met Susan Colby a little over 3yrs ago. It was by chance, and one I carefully navigated. I found myself sitting in the kitchen of a legend. I’d met her business partner, Burt Avedon years early, my curiosity was well beyond the high flyer…the ace…the face. I’d seen Susan’s name on most if not all Willis&Geiger ephemera while organizing the archive at Lands’ End. I knew exactly who was hosting coffee.
March 10, Susan turned 85. I’ve been having coffee with her most Tuesday’s for the past 3yrs. We celebrated over coffee today, WPR Music Edition in support and water color on mini-canvas as a focus. She’s taught me love, grace, humor, forgiveness, and most importantly….
D O G
We talk D O G the most along with revisiting favorite stories or memories. Did you know Susan designed the first Paul Stuart Women’s Collection? She pioneered the brand into womenswear. She’s also the name behind Avedon&Colby. I prefer to think she’s the foundation and why the brand even exists.
I MARRIED ADVENTURE is my ode to Susan Colby who has taught me much and inspires we weekly to just be curious.
WI SPORTING CLUB
The Northwoods has a way of slowing your senses down. The way light paints in shadows or cuts through morning mist. The smell of earth underfoot in a deep canopy of evergreens or fragrant spruce wafting in waves. Hearing a loon echo across a cold body of water or mostly listening for its partners return call.
Giants of conservation such as Aldo Leopold and John Muir had a way of putting in words to what our senses already know. Or a grandparent reciting passages from these works as they tie flys, polish a camera lens, or carve a new duck call as the glow from the hearth help light the cabin.
ABIQUIU
Native daughter of Wisconsin, Georgia O’Keeffe’s influence stretches from WI to the concrete and asphalt jungle of NYC to the sun bleached adobe facades of New Mexico. Her artistic approach or vantage point, has been lauded and copied by many. In New Mexico, where, in 1940, O’Keeffe bought a home at the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, she wore denim and painted the landscapes, she loved to wear men’s shirts paired with bluejeans. She honed her style by borrowing from other nations, too. When she travelled to Japan, she returned with kimonos, one of which she is wore, open and loose, in a Paul Strand portrait from 1918. It’s through this vantage point we created our narrative, Abiquiu.
VINTAGE MARKETPLACE
CLOTHING FURNITURE DECOR BOOKS COLLECTIBLES ART TEXTILES
CREATIVE SERVICES
APPAREL DESIGN INTERIOR DESIGN COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL STAGING RENTALS