Complexity lies within simplicity

Simplicity is how Maira Kalman describes the inspiration behind her work.

But the Israeli-born American's art is far from simple. Her writing and drawings depict complex coexistences.

The artist, children's book author, designer and illustrator, is currently displaying her exhibition Just Looking at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics' art gallery. It will show until Saturday.

The exhibition, co-produced by Julie Saul Gallery in New York City, features Kalman's illustrations, paintings and embroideries, which combine imagery, drawings and simple texts. Her work is often credited with blending a child's view with a grown-up's offbeat perspective of the world.

The relationship between text and imagery has been at the core of Kalman's work in several of her books and illustrations. She often uses old linens as the base support for her work to give her art an overall meditative feeling.

"Everyday, I go outside and wander around, taking photos of everything. I often stand on the corner and just look at people. Then I go sit in a park or caf and try not to think and just draw," she says. "I am fortunate to daydream my way."

One of the works on display in Beijing is a "pink dress" hanging at the center hall. The work showcases one of Kalman's embroidered pieces.

"I had a dress made and embroidered at the beginning of the text from Dante's Inferno," she says.

Because embroidery is time-consuming, Kalman says she used the slow moments to think and dream - which she expresses through a poem on the dress. It is meant to express hope and confidence in complete darkness, she says.

"It is a very true piece of writing," says Kalman.

Since arriving to the United States as a child in 1954, Kalman was immersed in the creative world though she had no formal art or design training. She majored in English literature at New York University, where she met her husband, renowned graphic designer Tibor Kalman.

The couple founded the multidisciplinary design firm M&Co in 1979.

In 1987, she published her first book, Stay Up Late, illustrating Scottish-American musician David Byrne's lyrics with an array of colourful characters designed by M&Co.

A year later, she began publishing her own books, including Hey Willy and See the Pyramids.

She has since gone on to complete several other projects and is now working on another set of books she will both write and illustrate.

Chen Nan

(China Daily 05/30/2008 page18)