So many visitors at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles ask if they can touch the artwork on display. San Jose-based artist, Stephanie Metz, defies this rule of most museums and gallery spaces, by inviting her artwork to be touched by the public in her recent solo exhibition entitled, In Touch.
Stephanie will be exhibiting work in the upcoming exhibition, Under The Covers: It’s Not What It Seams, a collaboration with Art and Art History Students from San Jose State University, scheduled October 11-November 15, 2020 at SJMQT.
What are materials and processes utilized in your body of work?
I primarily use wool in the form of batting or roving that I compress into three-dimensional felt sculpture using felting needles, or in the form of industrial felt that I stitch into three-dimensional forms.
Describe the main differences of your 'old' studio to your 'Shelter in Place' studio.
My ‘regular’ studio is a 735 sq-foot warehouse-like space at The Alameda Artworks complex in downtown San Jose near SAP Center. My ‘Shelter in Place’ studio is a back room in my home in the Berryessa neighborhood of Northeast San Jose. I began renting my downtown studio several years ago in anticipation of the larger work I was beginning-- ‘InTouch,’ a series of human-sized sculptures currently installed at the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University. I need a large space not only to work on multiple large pieces but also to store supplies, materials, and finished works. When I learned about the Shelter In Place situation I went to the downtown studio to pick up some pieces I had been working on as well as some tools and supplies. Up until the Shelter In Place situation I had used my home studio only occasionally since I get most of my work done at the big studio and I have two kids at home so late afternoons and evenings don’t typically afford me much work time at home.
My home studio consists of a room divided into two parts- a desk and bookcase area and a work area with a table, several counters with storage underneath, and lots of natural light from some big windows and overhead track lighting. It’s a much more compact space but warm and lovely to work in. And the commute is excellent. With the whole family staying at home I can work on projects and be available to my kids for school-from-home help.
What are the largest obstacles you need to overcome (immediately, near future, distant future)?
My largest obstacles during this strange time are quite everyday and tangible (I need to continue to pay my studio rent, and for now that means selling artwork and looking into creating online workshops) and also abstract and impossible to resolve right now: over the past three years I’ve been focused on making huge sculpture that people can touch and interact with physically-- how will that kind of experience be received after all of this coronavirus shake-up? I’d like to think that we humans will always crave physical, personal encounters with each other and with objects that entice us-- but will fear get in the way? The response to my hands-on exhibition ‘InTouch’ at the de Saisset Museum at SCU had been incredibly positive before the whole campus and museum were shut down. Not only are wool and felt visibly soft and inviting, but they also have some amazing natural properties that make them ideal textiles for public spaces-- the lanolin covering each fiber resists adherence of bacteria and resists dirt and liquids well. I had included hand sanitizer stations by each gallery entrance even before coronavirus worries since touching is a focal point of the exhibition and everybody has their own sense of what they’re comfortable with. After this unprecedented effort to reduce sharing germs with others, what will the new normal be? The goal of my touchable sculpture experiment is to encourage connections between people through shared novel art experiences in public space, since that has long been the response when I allowed people to give in to their craving to touch my felt sculpture. I think over the long term we humans will generally go back to a lot of our previous behaviors and habits, but it makes me really sad to think about the growing sense of social danger and fear and its ensuing isolation and xenophobia among people. Maybe my art can help heal that when it’s time.
What do you do when you get "stuck" in your creative process? Where do you turn for inspiration?
I tend to have several projects going at once and, as a parent as well as an artist, I never have enough time. So when I do get stuck in a particular project I set it aside and focus on other projects until I can revisit it with fresh eyes. I don’t remember the last time I got stuck overall in my creative process. I have enough backlogged ideas that I keep myself engaged and entertained. I’m inspired by all sorts of sources: the natural world (the differential growth that leads to ‘frilly’ edges of plants and sea creatures), observation of everyday physical phenomena (the low angle of the sun creating a wavy shadow from what looks like a straight twig on the ground), and even my materials themselves (can I compress this felt enough that it can hold x amount of weight?). I think my mindset is one of curiosity and I can’t turn it off.
What are you currently reading/ listening to?
I often listen to audiobooks while I work, and I tend towards sci-fi, fantasy, and novels-- very escapist types of stories. Some of my favorite authors are Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Patricia Briggs, Sophie Kinsella, and Jim Butcher.
What advice would you give to other creatives at this moment in time?
Don’t feel guilty about making and selling your work-- what you do and make matters and brings connection, beauty, and comfort to people, especially in trying times. There are a lot of things we need to live rich and fulfilled lives, we can’t all be on the front lines of medically treating this pandemic, but we can each contribute that thing that makes us feel connected.
Anything else you would like to say or mention?
I’m working on editing a video version of the cancelled Artist Talk I was scheduled to present at the de Saisset on April 30th. I was looking forward to talking about the journey of planning, creating, and managing this huge project in large part to highlight all the help I received from my community in the form of volunteers, studio assistants, and supporters. I’m pleased to have found an alternate solution that will allow me to share the images and narrative to viewers at home. I’ll be announcing its completion via my mailing list and social media, so if anyone wants to get updates on that as well as a virtual museum walk-through video they can sign up through my website, www.stephaniemetz.com, or through Instagram or Facebook: @stephanie_metz_sculpture.
