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Mione Plant

Art Letters

May 9, 2024

If you could pick one song to paint about, what would it be?

This question fired me up and equally sent me into analyzation overload. I often use song lyrics to title paintings and am consistently amazed how the intricacies of making a song parallels making a painting. The Miller Gallery asked each of it’s Artists to choose one song, and paint about it.

I narrowed it down to some recent bangers:

  • Andre 3000: I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time

  • Petey: The Freedom to F**k Off

  • Masked Wolf: Astronaut In The Ocean

Ultimately, it hit me when this gem resurfaced on a long drive. I remember listening to it on tape with my parents, and years later on CD in my first car. Immediate stirring. Clear yes.

Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”

Initial sketches had me heading towards a 2D chain I’d cut out of wood. But then the high of my most recent work nudged me to try for a 3D representation.

My necklace offered to sacrifice for art, and had me plying open the links to create a model for my project.

One of my favorite ways math shows up in art making is calculating scale. Ratios ensue, left brain becomes at ease, and makes room for the right brain to finally take over.

After several rounds with the jigsaw, the basis for the work was ready. Seeing two links temporarily on the floor had me strongly considering the visual and metaphorical impact of having some links very visibly breaking away from the chain…

What cycles have I been working to break away from?

What ran in my ancestry until it ran into me?

Adam Grant discusses the difference between being good ancestors vs dutiful descendants. He shares, the responsibility of each generation is not to please their predecessors, but to improve things for the future.

Giving care to each link in the chain…

…those that came before me, myself, and my son

The chain gets messy before it gets beautiful.

Sometimes this stage feels so far away. That there’s so much brute force - procuring and constructing and sawing and sanding and priming - to do before I get to this moment. The big steps that precede the small ones. But eventually it comes. The refinement. The subtle actions, shifts, efforts that add up to something beautiful, something whole.

Connected to the past, while opening to new possibilities for the future.

 

THE CHAIN
12 x 48 x 8 Acrylic on Custom Wood Panels
The Miller Gallery

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Thank you for personally connecting with me through this work, and thank you for your effort to be the change.

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Mione Plant, 7853 La Cosa Dr, Dallas, United States

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