Mar 26, 2020
Get Creative at Home: Moving in Sync with Mary Weatherford’s Neon Strokes
Spending time at home with kids? The High is here with creative movement-based activities to try together.
By Melissa Katzin, Manager of Family Programs, High Museum of Art
The artwork we’re looking at today is a new addition to the High Museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art Collection.
Mary Weatherford is a contemporary artist, meaning that she is actively working, creating art in the present day. She created Gloria just two years ago.
Much of Weatherford’s work is based on memories of specific places, events, or people. Who do you think Gloria is?
After looking at the colors and lines within this work, how do you think Weatherford feels about Gloria?
Weatherford is influenced by music and once said, “A lot of times, I think of colors as musical notes. I think of paintings as chords, trying to hit an emotional chord . . . Every color hits an emotional note.”
Weatherford learned to play piano as a child and studied guitar with American folk musician Dave Van Ronk.
She also draws from her dance background when creating her large-scale works. Many of the lines in Gloria are from the arc of her arm or a movement of her wrist.
Get Creative at Home
Look closely at Gloria. Find a space in your home that you can move around in, and try to recreate the movements Weatherford might have used to create Gloria.
Turn on some music, and create your own Gloria again. Did your movements change when you added music?
