We start each day during Art Week with a to-do list of the many art activities that interest us; the lists do not nearly include everything. As each day progresses, we find ourselves spending more time or less time at this venue or the other. Possibilities are eliminated or sometimes added. Of course, there is the program that looked so interesting, but … it was yesterday! Oops!

Today was one of those days. We started early afternoon at Untitled with an amazing brunch catered by Top Chef Stephanie Izard. The menu included tastes including chicken skewers,

pork belly sliders or maitake sliders,

different empanadas, a beautiful salad,

and dips. Yes, the carrot “hummus” was delicious. Good food and a great opportunity to see friends and make new ones before the trek through the art. It’s lovely when you see people you were hoping to see and others you had no idea were in town!

When I finally took my stroll (well almost 3 hours) through the tent, as usual several genres stood out. They included mosaics:

Sculptural mosaics by Oklahoma artist Summer Wheat (https://summerwheat.com/Biography);

Or Cameron Welch‘s pieced together new mythologies addressing black identities and modern society (https://yossimilo.com/artists/49-cameron-welch/biography/):

Textiles and fiber art:

Two tapestries by Peruvian artists Ana Teresa Barboza and Rafael Freyre were part of an installation, Tropical Station: A Common Habitat, which took almost four years to conceive and create. The installation used native natural materials reflecting the biodiversity of the northern coastal region of Peru.

Charity Vilakazi‘s (https://kalashnikovv.com/artists/charity-vilakazi) pieced and quilted work based on traditional tales that tell of the resilience, wisdom, and power of women in Africa, South Africa in particular.

Tales of the Gulah Geechee take shape in the fabric collages of Erin Leann Mitchell (https://www.erinleannworks.com/home).

Knitted and crocheted doilies were used by two artists in the fair to create their canvases :

Isabel .D (https://gallerynosco.com/artist/isabelle-d-artist-gallery/) intricately manipulates and arranges these older, upcycled pieces in colorful, multitextured creativity.

Trinidadian Zak Ové‘s work with doilies caught my eye last year (see 1 December 2022 post). I feel inspired once again to do something with my collection of small fiber masterpieces.

I laughed when I saw Marie Watt‘s Blanket Stories (https://mariewattstudio.com/).

It brought to mind how carefully my blankets are folded and stored in a closet. Also how the Greek women I interviewed stored their blankets with care. I noted what seemed to be a Pendleton in Watt’s collection. Little did I know that she’s a member of the Seneca Nation and bases her practice on her rich heritage as did many of the other artists whose work drew me.

Other Native and First Nation artists represented include:

The intricate works of Renée Condo (Mi’gmaw ancestry) in which traditional seed beads are replaced with large-scale wooden beads to replicate floral patterns found on regalia and other items.

Caroline Monnet used papercutting to create intricate patterns, coincidentally echoed in the dress worn by another fair-goer.

This brings me to a favorite subject, fairgoers and their attire, carefully planned or not. Here are some examples:

Seen at the brunch …

The annual fair-goer favorite, the Zuri dress (shopzuri.com) (see 7 December 2019 for previous mentions).

Next stop was Design Miami. Constant Companion dropped me to and returned home with Daughter and a friend. The two young women had other places to go, people to see; CC took a rest and joined me a while later. Alone, I took my time through the expo, saw lots, and took note of a few observations.

This year’s innovative installation from Maison Perrier-Jouët, ‘‘The Pollination Dance,” was created by Mexican artist and designer Fernando Laposse. The joint effort highlighted the fragile relationship between humans and nature full of on-going environmental and ecological challenges. This performance piece featured a delicate floral installation and two women enacting its pollination.

As I meandered, with that environmental theme in mind, I observed the repeated representaion of trees as designers expressed concerns for sustainability.

This oversized seat with a large tree-lamp near the fair’s entrance immediately caught my eye.

Ceramicist Alice Riehl (https://www.aliceriehl.com/) explores the combination of porcelain and lace to be a signature of her unique botanical inspired works.

2023 Curio from Raise the Moral brought unique installation of which this tree was just one piece. As the wrote: “Trees stay on the ground, soundwaves are only ever heard, and the world around us becomes too familiar.” The similarity in concept with Etra Gallery’s current exhibit “Beyond Sonorism” seemed obvious to me (see 5 December 2023 post). So interesting how similar ideas are circulating, waiting to be collected and coordinated.

If you have followed this post, I’ve had fun capturing images of octopi. For a while, these multi-armed sea creatures seemed to be following my every footstep. And here again, Atlantis by Jean-Christophe Malaval.

What could it all mean?