Nostalgic Residue

I grew up in Santa Fe New Mexico immersed in the Arts. My vivid memories include: theatrical encounters with Santa Fe’s animated outdoor painter Tommy Macaione, rhythms of flamenco music played by guitarists Ralph Kahn and David Briggs at Three Cities of Spain restaurant on Canyon Road, hiding and playing on gigantic foam rubber sculpture in John Chamberlain’s living room on Cerro Gordo Road, smells of turpentine and oil paint in my father’s Cannon Road Studio, years of hiking with author and retired Lieutenant Colonel John Masters, discussions of cinematography and Godfrey Regio, long but rewarding hours interning with architect Edward Mazria. My father, Phillip Wayne Wilburn, ensured the family was engaged in art. Art was everything! He has had a turbulent and enduring influence on my life.

I have always been skeptical about my father’s stories. I empathize with William Bloom, Edward’s son in “Big Fish”, the fictional story of a “father who has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he’s never really told the truth”. My father’s stories were always very animated, bigger than life, told and retold - his two-man shows with Willem de Kooning, his prideful rejection of both a teaching position at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Museum of New Mexico curators requests to restore Gustave Baumann’s marionettes for an exhibition. Detailed descriptions of architectural models built of the World Trade Center and the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, while he was employed with Robert P Grau (model builder for architects Minoru Yamasaki and Eero Saarinen). Fact or fable, my fathers stories were of little consequence to me until his death in January 2018. I was faced with grieving the loss of a parent whom I loved but had a challenging relationship with. I experienced a flash of my own morality, questions about my origin and roots, and a need to redefine my purpose. In future, I hope to kick-up a bit of dust and navigate through my father’s proclivity for exaggerated storytelling and simply write about the influence growing up has had on my life and work today.

My life has been rich with diverse experiences (like the ingredients of a spicy and nostalgic green chili stew) I hope my stories will be entertaining, informative and infused with color, light, texture, architecture, and of course - ART.