Where Did You Come From Anyway? Works by Pat Musick

The exhibition, Where Did You Come From Anyway?  is a retrospective of work from Musick’s entire career spanning 55 years.

Musick’s painted wall sculpture of the same name is the signature artwork of this exhibition. Musick says about this sculpture, “I looked up from addressing museum announcements to see my mother looking at me quizzically. Then she asked, ‘Where did you come from anyway?’ These were almost the last words she spoke to me before she died. They burned into my psyche, and I knew I would someday paint an answer to her question.”  This work is a statement about Musick’s roots. “My family came from Iowa farmland, were conservative and typical, but I was always different. I stand alone on an island beside a blue cornstalk. Although my feet are firmly rooted in the land, my head is in a pink cloud. The world, both vibrant and dark, swirls around me.” she states.

Included in this exhibition are both large- and small-scale sculpture, as well as two-dimensional art using natural media such as wood, stone, paper, and beeswax. Musick’s art is concerned with the fragile nature of the environment and the human/nature relationship responsible for its survival. There has been much growth. “I began as a painter and transitioned to wall sculpture, then free standing works. Over the years, I have retained my interest in two dimensions by making works on paper, while my art has moved from expressionistic to abstract to conceptual and has undergone a steady reduction to simpler elements and media.” Musick remarks.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.