Pae White

Pae White (born 1963) is an American multimedia visual artist known for her unique portrayal of nature and mundane objects through her creations of suspended mobiles. She currently lives and works between Sonoma County and Los Angeles, California. White attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Scripps College in 1985. Her work is said to "merge art, design, craft, and architecture," and it has been called both abstract and surreal. She is specifically known to work with yarn, cardboard, and mirror fragments to create suspended mobile sculptures. Some of her pieces are commissioned, and many are site-specific. Notable for her unusual use of space, White's work has been featured in a range of non-exhibition spaces, including the bookshop window at Galerie Buchholz and a children's learning area at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She often draws inspiration from nature and represents elements like fish, birds, and ponds in her works. Artists like Alexander Calder and Sister Corita primarily influence her work. One source states that the recurring use of the smoke motif through her works represents her fascination with the ordinary and allows for exploration of the curves and various shades found within its clouds. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art acquired this piece in 2010, identifying that the tapestry is made of cotton and polyester.

Of the concept behind her work, White has said: "For the last several years, my practice has focused on exploring the neglected, the forgotten, the spaces between things, even the things between things. I am equally drawn to the temporary, fleeting, and ephemera of everyday life. My work has attempted to subvert the viewer's expected relationship to an everyday object, nudging them off balance, encouraging a deeper look." Venice, Manchester, Washington D.C., and Melbourne.

Select exhibitions Directions: Virgil Marti and Pae White, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2007) Smoke Knows (2009) Whitney Biennial (2010) Sumer XX, The Fabric Workshop and Museum(2012) Too Much Night, Again, South London Gallery (2013) In 2012, "Women, Art, and Society: 5th Edition", by Whitney Chadwick noted that White's work ". . . point to the rich history and legacy of the contemporary women's movement, and insure that the complex histories of feminism in the visual arts of the 1st century will be carried long into the new millennium".