A BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA MUSS ON THE OCCASION OF HER EXHIBITION AT THE ALGONQUIN'S OAK ROOM IN NYC
Kathleen Cullen: I know you travel quite a bit. Where is your favorite place to make work?
Nature -- the wilderness, in particular -- is where I locate myself -- my thoughts, vision, creativity. I am fortunate to have studios in the Berkshires and Miami where I materially transcribe concepts originating in nature.
Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
I grew up in New York and live in the Berkshires and Miami. I am fortunate to be able to immerse myself in nature, seasons, urban and rural life and my work therefore may have a vocabulary encompassing this broad lived experience.
You use so many different mediums. Do you have a favorite medium?
Oil sticks, my hands and found objects come together on works characterized as assemblages.
How have other artists or art genres influenced your sense of aesthetics?
Arte Povera influence on the assemblages pieces at end of hall in the oak room? I would not call the assemblage work a distinct parallel to the Italian Art Povera. The assemblage work is the material representation of how I move through my life -- encountering, reflecting, gathering. I navigate through different cultures and environments and the assemblages embody moments through time and space rather than a considered attempt to align with an artistic movement.
Why did you decide to have a show at the Oak Room at the Algonquin?
As you know, the Algonquin is legendary for convening some of the most brilliant and audacious thinkers and the hotel is interested in reinterpreting that Salon legacy and offering its patrons an experience they may not have expected.
The Algonquin Hotel is located at 59 West 44th Street | Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in NYC