Pae White

White was born in 1963 in Pasadena, California.[2] She attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Scripps College in 1985.[2] In 1990 she studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.[2] In 1991 she attained a Masters of Fine Art from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.[2]

White is a multi-media artist who frequently creates large-scale installations in a variety of media, from tapestry to ceramics to tinfoil.[3] Her work is said to "merge art, design, craft, and architecture"[4] and it has been called both abstract and surreal.[5] She is specifically known to work with yarn, cardboard, and mirror fragments to create suspended mobiles.[6] Some of her pieces are commissioned, and many are site-specific.[6] She has been active though numerous solo exhibitions as well as group exhibitions since 1990.[7] 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.[2]

A past exhibition from the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles included a set of Pae's mobiles that she created using colorful pieces of paper that were hung on multicolored strings.[8] She often draws inspiration from nature and represents elements like fish, birds, and ponds in her works.[8] She is known to observe the ordinary and often overlooked objects of everyday life and use them in her pieces.[9] Her work is largely influenced by artists like Alexander Calder and Sister Corita.[6]

White created a non-mobile piece titled Smoke Knows in 2009 that consists of a large tapestry expressing her interpretation of photographs of smoke.[6] At this time in her career, White drew inspiration from smoke throughout the creation of numerous pieces.[10] 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.[11] The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art acquired this piece in 2010, and identifies that the tapestry is made of cotton and polyester.[12] It is not on display at this time.[12]

Of the concept behind her work, White has said:

"For the last several years, my practice has focused on an exploration of the neglected, the forgotten, the spaces between things, even the things between things. I am equally drawn to the temporary, the fleeting, to the 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."[2]

Notable cities in which she has pieces on display include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Münster, London, Venice, Manchester, Washington D.C.,[13] and Melbourne.[14]

Pae White has had works published in two books on women artists. In 2005, her work was featured "Women Artists in the 20th and 21st century", edited by Uta Grosenick[19]. In 2012, "Women, Art, and Society: 5th Edition", by Whitney Chadwick noted that White's work ". . . point[s] to the rich history and legacy of the contemporary women's movement, and insure[s] that the complex histories of feminism in the visual arts of the 1st century will be carried long into the new millennium"[20].