Pae White
Visiting Pae White in her studio in Lincoln Heights, Los Angles, we enter into her “zone of reflectivity” where the surfaces of the works on her walls and work tables reflect light and create their own ever-changing iridescence, which compels you to look again and see something new. Pae White works in many mediums, glass, clay, steel, textiles; she often takes on media that she has never worked with before. Her sense of experimentation—that sense of not knowing,—is a catalyst for discovery and creativity. She also uses a high-level technology to create her work. Her tapestry projects, in particular, require years of experimentation on the loom, as she explains, ”we try, we fail, we have success, we fail and we finally prevail.”
We have come to talk about her series of tapestries called Bugz and Drugs. Pae White says she is interested in psychopharmacology and plants that have a potential psychedelic effect for medicine. Her choice of metallic threads create what she calls “restless color” …a chromatic vibration that never settles, as you move around her piece or appreciate it in the morning or evening light, you may experience a different vision, a different array of colors. In her story telling, she is elevating these humble materials with gold and silver threads and a sense of luxury that celebrates movement and discovery.