'This is art.' The rich world of lists, stationery and discarded pieces of paper

For the past mates of years, I’ve been going done my dad’s collections. For context, my household moved to Santiago de Chile successful ’92 from L.A. — I was calved there. My dada did cartoon voices. He worked with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, and helium joined a Chilean, my mom. My begetter passed distant successful 2006; maine and my ma are here, and my sister moved backmost to L.A. successful 2019.

I’ve been going done my dad’s things — one, due to the fact that I made the time. Two, due to the fact that I felt similar it was the due infinitesimal to bash so. It is simply a precise affectional process, of course. Next twelvemonth is going to beryllium 20 years since helium passed away. I’m 41 — I didn’t person him for precise long. I person been sorting done the things, choosing what I’m going to support for myself, what I’m going to springiness away. The travel of doing this has besides had a batch to bash with giving these things a 2nd accidental and a 2nd beingness — getting them retired of a warehouse oregon country oregon container and idiosyncratic really utilizing it and giving it a caller meaning. There’s thing symbolic and transformative astir that that I person truly enjoyed, and I didn’t expect it.

From the bid “crystals of sulphate of soda and lime,” collage, pencil, ink, stamp, tape, frottage connected paper, diptych 22.5 x 30cm, 2025.

I person gone to store income and flea markets, and I conscionable enactment my small basal determination and marque everything truly nice. It’s amusive to bash the research, fig retired what everything is, due to the fact that I person each sorts of objects, similar fossils and minerals and Avon thimbles from the ’80s and Japanese toys from the ’60s. I realized that I was doing truthful overmuch work, taking pictures of and measuring everything. I was like, “This is art.” This is simply a task — this cannot beryllium thing that I’m doing connected the side.

You volition spot successful the enactment immoderate stationery from my dad’s bookshop, which was connected Melrose: “Lenny’s Book Nook: Unusual, utilized books bought and sold.” Part of what’s absorbing to maine is the fabrication that you person to make erstwhile idiosyncratic passes distant — you benignant of capable successful the blanks. And representation is precise tricky successful that sense, due to the fact that idiosyncratic tells you something, and past you retrieve it successful a definite way. That besides informs the work, that unusual mode that representation functions. It’s absorbing how, for example, my dad’s bookshop, I person remembered antithetic things from it. I ne'er went there. I conscionable person a small spot of data. Art is simply a ace fertile spot to marque associations due to the fact that you make thing that’s benignant of parallel to reality.

I’ve besides started caller collections successful the process. For example, I cod lists that I find erstwhile I spell to the supermarket, and idiosyncratic conscionable drops their database connected the level — I volition ever beryllium the vacuum that volition cleanable it up for those people. I find them endearing, similar thing that idiosyncratic made with perfectly nary pretension for it to beryllium art. And that is besides thing I emotion astir stationery. It’s not meant to beryllium artistic.

I americium realizing the crushed wherefore I’m funny successful making tiny format works close present has to bash with the beingness that I’m referencing, which, successful the lawsuit of this series, are books, the aged satellite of lists and stationery and discarded pieces of paper. I besides realized however intimate drafting tin be, and a batch of this taxable substance is not precise casual to speech about, it’s precise idiosyncratic and private. So the information that it’s tiny has deed precise adjacent to home.

Going done boxes and going done things is incredibly messy. It’s not similar everything fits neatly successful a box. Like, “Oh, present is the assemblage with my father’s smoking pipes” — it doesn’t spell similar that astatine all. For example, the toys that I’ve been going through, they’re each implicit the place. I deliberation that this series, successful that sense, relates to that overlapping of things, the acquisition of going done things. I’m inactive looking astatine the works, but the overlapping and the transparencies of the papers that I’ve been using, it’s opened up thing truly caller and absorbing for me.

—As told to Elisa Wouk Almino

Studio table of Grace Weinrib, featuring enactment from the bid “crystals of sulphate of soda and lime,” premix media collages of colored pencil, china ink, india ink pen, c insubstantial transfer, rubber stamp, correction tape, masking portion and frottage connected paper.

(Courtesy of the artist)

Grace Weinrib was calved successful Los Angeles and is an American Chilean ocular creator and teacher. She presently lives and works successful Santiago, Chile.