Three weeks in Far West Texas
I’ve just returned from Marfa, a tiny town in the Chihuahuan Desert, an area which spans northern Mexico and the southern-most parts of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.
Marfa is best known as the seasonal home of the artist, designer and writer Don Judd. In the late 70’s he began restoring a decommissioned US Army cavalry base with a view to creating an art foundation, a place to permanently present his work and the work of other artists he admired. In 1987 the Chinati Foundation opened its door to the public. The Chinati’s art collection, as well as that of the Judd Foundation - the estate created upon the artist’s death in 1994 - is what drew me to Marfa some 16 years ago. I’ve returned a number of times over the years and have always kept a special place in my heart for it.
This trip was part vacation, part residency, part presentation. It was a chance to reconnect with my friends here as well as a good opportunity to finalise a couple of new designs I’ve been working on over recent months. More on their release shortly.
The landscape is felt very strongly here. The context is both particular and all-encompassing. West Texas is all ranch-land, it’s Cowboy country. Alongside my regular craft - the making of handbags in fine Italian leather- it felt right to get to grips with some of the more unusual, local materials available so I’ve been experimenting with rawhide from the local saddlery and ixtle, the fibre harvested from Lechuguilla, an agave plant affectionately known as ‘shin-dagger’.
It has been great to test my ability to work on the road and to put by new mobile studio kit to good use. The tools needed to do the kind of leatherwork I specialise in are very specific - having a duplicate set to use while travelling further afield offers an exciting sense of possibility. After two years of working from my small studio in NYC, being able to travel for presentations and residencies seems very appealing.
For many years the Marfa Book Company has been a mainstay of the cultural scene. The fact that a bookstore of such caliber exists in such a remote area only adds to its charm. Tim Johnson, the man who runs it, is one of the first people I met in Marfa and has been a friend since then. He invited me to exhibit some of my work in their new space on South Kelly Street at the end of my stay. I was delighted to be presenting some of my work in this special spot in this special town.
Rawhide Crown
An exhibition hosted by Marfa Book Company.