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Psychological Perspectives, 53: 262–263, 2010Copyright c© C. G. Jung Institute of Los AngelesISSN: 0033-2925 print / 1556-3030 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00332925.2010.501207
About the Artist: Sam Watters
Nancy Mozur
Sometimes in fairy tales, with the mere wave of a wand, an inanimate objectis suddenly enlivened. The invisible cloak, enchanted beans, and flying carpethave all aided heroes at crucial times within these narratives. Shoes, in par-ticular, have served as vehicles for “happily ever after” endings. Dorothy onlyhad to realize that by clicking together her ruby heels, she could be carriedback home to her farm in Kansas, while Cinderella snagged the prince whenhe provided a glass slipper that fit. Magic wands, though in great demandthese days, are scarce. However, most artists seem always to have somethingup their sleeve, and our featured painter is no exception.
Sam Watters creates portraits of objects, transforming them into iconsof fancy. These are not fashion illustrations or still life studies but presen-tations that open up the imagination. Bejeweled shoes glow as if they haveemerged from Ali Baba’s cave. If you don them, they might lead to landsunknown. A series of his twenty-four watercolors, on arboreal subjects de-picting comical and often ironic deconstructions of trees, now resides in thecollection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They range from acarved Santa Claus and Christmas cross to a match.
Watters’ art suggests an underlying interest in the architecture ofmatter—how things are constructed and used in culture. He studiedbotany at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England, and has sincebecome author to Houses of Los Angeles, 1885—1935; American Gar-
dens: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and New England; as well as “Lost L.A.”a monthly column for the Los Angeles Times. Currently, he is preparinga catalogue of turn-of-the-century garden photographs in the Library ofCongress.
When I first saw Sam Watters’ drawings at Crossroads School for Artsand Science gallery in Santa Monica, California, years ago, I was touchedby their intimacy and humor against the white paper. One could envision
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NANCY MOZUR � ABOUT THE ARTIST: SAM WATTERS 263
viewing a notebook from Victorian times or scientific engravings of rareplants with unpronounceable Latin names. Instead, they conveyed the spiritof a naturalist’s inner eye and a keen sense of observation to the quirky sideof our material world. As I left the exhibition, I felt richly transported by theworks, enjoying the charm exuded from their presence.
On the front cover: Sam Watters, Untitled (detail),watercolor on paper, 21.5 × 30 inches, 2006-7.
On the back cover: Sam Watters, Untitled (detail),watercolor on paper, 21.5 × 30 inches, 2006-7.