Wunderkind

I don't know when I first became aware of the work of Arcimboldo because he seems so intrinsic to my own way of thinking about pattern. I was, however, surprised to learn that he had lived and painted in the 16th century! How could an artist of the Renaissance period dare to do the bizarre work that he presented to the courts of kings? Was Arcimboldo a court jester of a sort? Did he humour King Ferdinand I of the Hapsburg court, Maximilian II of the Viennese court or later, Rudolph II at the court of Prague with his impossible compilations? Is this not modern art?

Though my self-portrait contains a woven fabric-like representation of flesh and hair unlike the Arcimboldo web of realistic objects, the influence of the master of double-meaning remains clear and obvious to me. The Surrealist Salvador Dali is credited for bringing Arcimboldo to the attention of the present art world, and since that time, many of us today have adopted a version of his style.

See the following YouTube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfHj0L8fLVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdfCOCIv_DU

Flashback

They called me "Miss Patterns Novotny". That name was not based solely on my high school art projects, but also apparently on my clothing schemes. I enjoyed wearing patterned knee-socks -such as a turquoise blue pair with red and black rings of colour printed just below the knee - with plaid or tweed skirts. The colours always matched the knee-socks, or so I thought, and maybe I allowed just one permissible area (perhaps a sweater?) to be given over to a solid colour. Even later on in Art School, my clothing unintentionally seemed to invite attention. A classmate once said to me "I'm always interested to see what costume you've devised for yourself." Costume? Of course, I never thought of it in this way, as I was just putting things together. But you know, it's not hard to fathom how all this patterning became such a serious matter in all aspects of my life, if you knew the kind of house I grew up in: highly textured curtains, heavily patterned damask or tapestried upholstery, and many old oriental rugs. Each area an impossible world unto itself. A world where Audubon birds sat on jungle-like tree branches, or a world where baskets of grapes and pheasants play havoc. Oh, and not to forget the carved, ornate antique furniture placed strategically around the "world of worlds". My mother, an antique dealer, artist, teacher and collector, designed that treasured atmosphere and I'm happy to reveal that her world has also become mine.