As a child, my favorite toys were fabric scraps. I would wrap them around myself, imagining they were elegant gowns, until it was time to return them to the toy box. That box of scraps hummed with possibility, and my reverence for it belied its humble contents. The real-world applications for this practice, in art and design, would not become apparent to me until years later. The relationship between found materials and final output can be well studied in the sculptures of Louise Nevelson. Born in 1899, she lived a life nearly parallel to the 20th century. Her family emigrated from what is now Ukraine to Rockport, Maine, when Nevelson was six years old and, though she learned English in school, she spoke Yiddish at home. Her father operated a junkyard, salvaging scraps from around the neighborhood. Nevelson studied sculpture and painting, and had her This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Six Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 51 Emily Gernild The Danish painter breathing new life into an old medium. Arts & Culture Food Issue 51 Imogen Kwok The artist takes food styling quite literally, creating accessories out of fruits and vegetables. Arts & Culture Interiors Issue 50 Gabriel Escámez A sea of tranquil designs inspired by the Mediterranean coastline. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Karin Mamma Andersson Inside the moody, mysterious world of Sweden’s preeminent painter. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Amalie Smith The Danish arts writer finding clarity between the lines. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Studio Visit: Heidi Gustafson A cabin in the Cascade Mountains houses a hermetic artist—and her extraordinary world of natural pigments.
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