Artist Profiles > W > Pae White
Pae White (b. 1963 Los Angeles) makes artwork that emerges from material experimentation, an approach that often pairs high tech and artisanal craft to ephemeral objects and quotidian subjects. Over the past decades she has created an expansive body of work that includes sculpture, painting, site-specific installation, furniture, architecture and graphic design. Her subjects and imagery might include smoke, colour, popcorn, time, plants, moonlight, birdcalls, bugs and clip art—elements that inspire her “exploration of the neglected, the forgotten, the spaces between things.” Common materials are often used to uncommon ends, for example in the way the artist has made artworks with neon, ceramic, string, birdseed and glass. As well, White has adapted centuries-old techniques with 21st century digital technology as with her recent series of tapestries. “For a number of years,” White explains, “my practice has focused on an exploration of the neglected, the forgotten, the elusive, the spaces between things, even the things between things. I am equally drawn to the temporary, the fleeting, to the ephemera of everyday life.”
At STPI, the artist allowed for chance and collaboration to guide her artistic production. This resulted in a wide series of works that combines recurring motifs in her oeuvre, such as the use of alphabets and threads, with the opportunities presented to her at STPI’s workshop and in Singapore; for example, the use of lettuce as material and heavily exploring the flocking technique on two-dimensional surfaces. All in all, explorations were made into ideas such as space, colours, material, rhythm and movement, and change and transformation.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Friendship is Magic, STPI, Singapore (2021); ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~v2, neugerriemschneider, Berlin (2021); Noisy Blushes, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose (2020), Beta Space: Pae White, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose (2019); Presumptive Close, greengrassi, London (2018); Small World, Galería Elvira González, Madrid (2018); Motherflocker, neugerriemschneider, Berlin (2018); Saarland Museum, Saarbrucken, Germany (2017); Fondazione Cini, Venice (2017); Demondaine, Kaufmann Repetto Gallery, Milan (2017); Qwalala, Le Stanze del Vetro, Venice (2017); Command-Shift-4, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2015); ORLLEGRO, MAK—Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Wien (2013); In Love With Tomorrow, Langen Foundation, Neuss, Düsseldorf (2013); Too Much Night, Again, South London Gallery, London (2013); and Material Mutters, The Power Plant, Toronto (2011) among many others. Additionally, her work has been included in significant exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial, the Venice Biennial, and the Glasgow International. White has created major public art works for the Oslo Opera House, Norway; Collaborative Life Science Building, Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles Metro Rapid, North Embarcadero, San Diego; and Los Angeles International Airport.
Her works are part of prominent public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Art Institute of Chicago; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.