It’s not often one has the privilege of watching the creative process in action. Artists demur when his dealer or patron want to experience the master at his easel (as if the voyeuristic experience would give any real insight as to what might being going on)…it does not.
So it was when I had the opportunity to step into the world of one of America’s most sought after Interior Designers. Over the course of meetings and sharing ideas, he displays an uncanny understanding of where he wants to end up, if not exactly sure how to get there…at first. His process, like so many others is rooted in a keen curiosity into how things work, mix, blend or might otherwise conform to fit his aesthetic. He’s a compulsive photographer much like Warhol or perhaps more aptly, Bressai. A chronicler of things: time and space more so than “events or people”. He wants to freeze that thing of beauty or odd shape or interesting spindle so that at some future date, it will avail itself for an alternate purpose. The collection of art we created together is my collaboration with that curious mind at work. We shaped his ideas and images into layers of framing and matting. His approach on this project was the ultimate re-purposing of things that a mind conjures. The result is an original aesthetic in decorative art. The Richard Mishaan collection of art is a cross section of modes: Asian, Belle Epoque France, Classical Roman, American Architecture, Organic Industrial, Pop and Post Modern; they connect to make up this intimate look into the curious mind of an American Icon.
-EM
