JAMES LEE WEBB
Reupholstering the Fabric of Old Stories
I talk about stories of reupholstering old couches with my deeply American-spirited immigrant grandmother. The old, musky couches were always from a much different time. My grandmother grew up in hard times during World War II in East Germany, so she always had a lot to talk about. When I was old enough to help her renovate the large, dusty treasures, we would often break from upholstering them and eat bacon sandwiches together that were lathered in mayonnaise on both pieces of white bread. She was a provider. For me, there is an innate, natural connection Between eating bacon and the beauty of old, freshly upholstered couches by synthesizing nostalgic memories.
I am fascinated by how I emotively respond to the visual tension of fresh fabric stretched like skin over an aged, bare bones wooden frame. My work reaches to get-at-the-heart of the very fabric of the stories about grandmother and the ones she told of the old world. I’m trying to reupholster the fabric of old stories by retelling them in terms of modernism—by stripping away the old fabric and remaking them through my own inner-monologue.
But those sturdy, bare bones of the stories never change even as stories are retold throughout grandfather time. We all reupholster old stories by retelling our own versions of them. My grandmother was a conversationalist and a storyteller. But what a perfect way to have meaningful conversation…starting with a cup of tea. Any old story can be made anew with a little love and care.
James Lee Webb, Clay Art Center Rittenberg Artist In Residence, 2019 - 2020
