Interview with Artist Joyce Stillman-Myers
Tana's Sink by Joyce Stillman-Myers
I wrote the following article in February 2011 based on an interview I did with the artist in 2003. This article is published on the Maier Museum's website at: http://www.maiermuseum.org/2011/04/on-and-off-the-wall-by-kathleen-fort/
On and Off the Wall is a series of brief reflections on or about works in the collection, including those that may not often make an appearance on the gallery wall due to shortage of display space.
One of the perks of working for the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College is that every day is spent surrounded by incredible art. During my time as the Office Manager of the museum from 2001 to 2005, many of the paintings in the collection became old friends. One of my favorites has always been Tana’s Sink by Joyce Stillman-Myers. I would often stop to spend a few minutes with this painting as it hung in the gallery or on the museum’s storage screens.
I love this photorealistic painting of a kitchen sink for its use of color and the treatment of light reflecting in glass and water and off the metallic stainless sink. Standing away from the painting, it appears smooth and nearly photogenic to the eye. A closer view reveals it to be almost abstract, and the artist’s brushstrokes are painterly and textured.
The baster hints of a turkey dinner. Some of the dishes in the sink resemble those of my grandmother. I imagine a story of Tana as the matriarch of a large family preparing a meal for her noisy extended brood, much as my own grandmother did every Sunday as I was growing up.
I eventually became curious about the “real” story behind the painting. In March 2003 I contacted Stillman-Myers who agreed to answer a few of my questions:
KF. An artist once told me that she simply wanted people to “feel something” when they viewed her work. Do you have the same goal with your paintings?
JS-M. I remember saying 25 years ago with the ego of a young beginning artist: “All I want is for people to fall down on their knees in front of my paintings, overcome with emotion and awe.” I know better now, but I would have liked to be that good. Having an affect on people is still my biggest thrill, my deepest concern, and the spark that makes me live.
KF. Tana’s Sink is one of my favorite paintings in the Maier’s collection. I never get tired of it. I wish I could have been at Tana’s for that meal.
JS-M. See? That is what keeps me painting when I feel low, stressed or hopeless.
KF. Was Tana a real person?
JS-M. Tana was my best friend, my support, and my biggest fan. She lived in a weird, round house a couple miles away from mine. I lived with my husband. She lived with her lover. All the girls always hung out at Tana’s. We talked feminist politics and listened to music. I often preferred to be there instead of home.
KF. Was she a good cook?
JS-M. Not especially. We all were good together.
KF. Was the sink full of dishes from a party?
JS-M. Yes… and no. Everyone had chipped in helping to create some giant salad. I made a cheese omelet DRIPPING with cheese. It looked like Alien!
KF. When you painted Tana’s Sink, did you work from a photograph?
JS-M. Yes. After things were cleaned up, I set up the sink and put the pestle in the bowl. (We hadn’t used it for the meal.) I climbed up on the sink (which was set in a counter of mosaic tiles—very seventies) with my camera and tool some photos as the afternoon light streamed in the window.
KF. Do you always paint from photographs?
JS-M. Although I used photographs, I found it necessary to have my sink removed from the kitchen and brought down to my studio so that I could see it as I painted. (I had a new sink put in my kitchen.) I took the stuff in her sink home with me and set it up like the photographs best I could. Tana’s sink was stainless, so I had to remember the beautiful purples and other hues I had seen in it that day. Of course, I was always running over there to get another look. Hers was a double sink, but I only painted one side.
KF. The museum has categorized Tana’s Sink under the genre of Photorealism. Would you agree with that assessment?
JS-M. You are the analyst. I am the manufacturer. Is my work Photorealism? My dealer, Louis Meisiel, insists it isn’t. I say it is. On the other hand, compared to other Photorealism, I think it’s more—let me see—it has more mass. I want it to have more presence—to be more palpable than just straight Photorealism. I am not painting the photograph. I am using the photograph. I am painting the thing. Unlike the Photorealists, I don’t have to give any excuses about why I use a photograph. I’m not interested in “flatness”. I’m interested in illusion. The photo is just another tool to help me stop time.
KF. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Have I talked your ear off enough?
JS-M. NO. Do you still wish you had been at the meal?
My answer to Ms. Stillman-Myers was then (as it is now, seven years later) yes—I wish I had been at that meal.
Kathleen Fort ’10 is a former office manager of the Maier Museum, and during her studies at Randolph College, she served at the museum as work study and intern. She continues her relationship with the Maier by providing web content management and graphic design on a freelance basis.
On and Off the Wall is a series of brief reflections on or about works in the collection, including those that may not often make an appearance on the gallery wall due to shortage of display space.
One of the perks of working for the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College is that every day is spent surrounded by incredible art. During my time as the Office Manager of the museum from 2001 to 2005, many of the paintings in the collection became old friends. One of my favorites has always been Tana’s Sink by Joyce Stillman-Myers. I would often stop to spend a few minutes with this painting as it hung in the gallery or on the museum’s storage screens.
I love this photorealistic painting of a kitchen sink for its use of color and the treatment of light reflecting in glass and water and off the metallic stainless sink. Standing away from the painting, it appears smooth and nearly photogenic to the eye. A closer view reveals it to be almost abstract, and the artist’s brushstrokes are painterly and textured.
The baster hints of a turkey dinner. Some of the dishes in the sink resemble those of my grandmother. I imagine a story of Tana as the matriarch of a large family preparing a meal for her noisy extended brood, much as my own grandmother did every Sunday as I was growing up.
I eventually became curious about the “real” story behind the painting. In March 2003 I contacted Stillman-Myers who agreed to answer a few of my questions:
KF. An artist once told me that she simply wanted people to “feel something” when they viewed her work. Do you have the same goal with your paintings?
JS-M. I remember saying 25 years ago with the ego of a young beginning artist: “All I want is for people to fall down on their knees in front of my paintings, overcome with emotion and awe.” I know better now, but I would have liked to be that good. Having an affect on people is still my biggest thrill, my deepest concern, and the spark that makes me live.
KF. Tana’s Sink is one of my favorite paintings in the Maier’s collection. I never get tired of it. I wish I could have been at Tana’s for that meal.
JS-M. See? That is what keeps me painting when I feel low, stressed or hopeless.
KF. Was Tana a real person?
JS-M. Tana was my best friend, my support, and my biggest fan. She lived in a weird, round house a couple miles away from mine. I lived with my husband. She lived with her lover. All the girls always hung out at Tana’s. We talked feminist politics and listened to music. I often preferred to be there instead of home.
KF. Was she a good cook?
JS-M. Not especially. We all were good together.
KF. Was the sink full of dishes from a party?
JS-M. Yes… and no. Everyone had chipped in helping to create some giant salad. I made a cheese omelet DRIPPING with cheese. It looked like Alien!
KF. When you painted Tana’s Sink, did you work from a photograph?
JS-M. Yes. After things were cleaned up, I set up the sink and put the pestle in the bowl. (We hadn’t used it for the meal.) I climbed up on the sink (which was set in a counter of mosaic tiles—very seventies) with my camera and tool some photos as the afternoon light streamed in the window.
KF. Do you always paint from photographs?
JS-M. Although I used photographs, I found it necessary to have my sink removed from the kitchen and brought down to my studio so that I could see it as I painted. (I had a new sink put in my kitchen.) I took the stuff in her sink home with me and set it up like the photographs best I could. Tana’s sink was stainless, so I had to remember the beautiful purples and other hues I had seen in it that day. Of course, I was always running over there to get another look. Hers was a double sink, but I only painted one side.
KF. The museum has categorized Tana’s Sink under the genre of Photorealism. Would you agree with that assessment?
JS-M. You are the analyst. I am the manufacturer. Is my work Photorealism? My dealer, Louis Meisiel, insists it isn’t. I say it is. On the other hand, compared to other Photorealism, I think it’s more—let me see—it has more mass. I want it to have more presence—to be more palpable than just straight Photorealism. I am not painting the photograph. I am using the photograph. I am painting the thing. Unlike the Photorealists, I don’t have to give any excuses about why I use a photograph. I’m not interested in “flatness”. I’m interested in illusion. The photo is just another tool to help me stop time.
KF. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Have I talked your ear off enough?
JS-M. NO. Do you still wish you had been at the meal?
My answer to Ms. Stillman-Myers was then (as it is now, seven years later) yes—I wish I had been at that meal.
Kathleen Fort ’10 is a former office manager of the Maier Museum, and during her studies at Randolph College, she served at the museum as work study and intern. She continues her relationship with the Maier by providing web content management and graphic design on a freelance basis.
