Near the end of her 2021 monograph, the artist Alice Mackler is asked if she ever felt the need to rebel against what she learned in school in order to find her own voice. Mackler’s response: No. Because I do what want to do.”
It may be some of the sagest advice for anyone making their way in a creative field. Do what you want to do. Do what you need to do. Just, uh, do it.
The whole catalog on Mackler is lovely and worth a look if you are interested in ceramics or want to take an inside look at an artist who has been making work in New York City since the 1960s.
The catalog contains a generous selection of paintings, drawings and sculptures by Mackler, along with an introduction by Matthew Higgs, essay by Kellly Taxter, and the concluding interview between Mackler and artist Joanne Greenbaum.
Alice Mackler
by Matthew Higgs and Kelly Taxter
Published 2021 by New York Consolidated, Gregory R. Miller & Co, in association with Kerry Schuss Gallery.
Listed at $45 but usually available for less