Curatorial
Hush Hush

Ben Guttin|Virginia Kleker|Ashley Neese|Susan O'Malley|Jamie Vasta|catalog (PDF)

Jamie Vasta
Secret Work
Drawings [2003-2005]

When I was a very small child, I was afraid of the paisley wallpaper in the bathrooms of my house. My parents' bathroom was covered in a tightly-knit pattern of black and brown and gold, with small white flowery forms that I always thought looked like Dr. Seuss monster faces. I was fascinated by the pattern, which seemed comforting in the daytime and only late at night began to feel sinister. The other bathroom, closest to my room, was papered with blue and orange paisley in the form of enormous flowers, which even during the day seemed monstrous and almost carnivorous. I always tried to avoid that room, although I missed them a few years later, when my parents replaced the paisley with innocuous wispy patterns in pink and grey.

These drawings are my secret work. I rarely show them to people, and hadn't ever
considered putting them in a show before. I use these drawings as places to explore things that I have always been anxious about- patterns, swimming, my fears and desires - in a way that renders them delicate and insubstantial, beautiful and harmless.