LEE
MOTHES
Open one day only: Friday, February 7, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Niche @ Dovetail (in Standard Projects)
111 S. Nash Street, Hortonville, WI
Making pencil drawings probably kept me sane as a kid. I created natural disasters on paper, such as tidal waves, instead of creating actual mayhem. After many years of art school, where pencil drawing was not mentioned — then more years of painting in watercolor and acrylic — I’ve slowly gone back to making pencil renderings, ocean surf being a favorite subject.
On the West Coast, the afternoon sunlight is often delightful with its brightness in contrast to the dark shadows in a breaking wave. My big challenge is to create the effects of light on water and sand in graphite.
I like the almost meditative practice of working with a single color. I also enjoy capturing the movement of water, especially large, chaotic, splashing waves, in a seemingly static medium – no swooshing brush strokes. I just draw a lot of marks and lines, make smudges, and then sometimes erase half of them. After a while, an images emerges. —Lee Mothes
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ABOUT
Lee Mothes
Lee Mothes (b. 1947, California) is an artist working in watercolor, acrylic, and graphite pencil. His primary efforts revolve around sharing his joy of ocean surf and developing an imaginary island-nation in the Indian Ocean he calls The Commonwealth of New Island. He is the author of An Artist’s Journey to Nevermore (2014) and The New Island Guidebook (2015), plus Keep Out!, a clubhouse book for kids, and a forthcoming book from Storey Publishing about accessory dwelling unit design. Find more at leemothes.com.
Dovetail | The Niche
Dovetail is a magazine exploring pathways between contemporary visual art and place. Co-founded in 2020 by writer and curator Kate Mothes and artist Vickie Vainionpää, the platform initially launched online and released two print issues before pausing. Mothes took the helm and relaunched in late 2022. The Niche is a virtual space dedicated to special projects and features as a supplement to the magazine, and in 2024, a small gallery of the same name opens at Standard Projects, at the Dovetail office, in Hortonville, Wisconsin. Find more at dovetailmag.com.
Standard Projects
Located in a former police and fire station in the village of Hortonville, Wisconsin, Standard Projects was established in 2014 as a multi-disciplinary creative space, hosting exhibitions, residencies, workshops, and long-term projects. Now housing an eponymous custom picture framing shop and Roll the Dice vintage shop, it is home to Dovetail’s office and gallery space, The Niche. Find more at stndrdprjcts.com.
This exhibition is supported in part by a grant from Arts Midwest.
For press inquiries, please contact Kate Mothes at info@dovetailmag.com.
About the Niche
The Niche is a virtual space dedicated to special projects that extend from Dovetail Magazine. As a supplement to our print magazine and online articles at dovetailmag.com, The Niche is a home for exhibitions and special features, presenting a curated collection of the most exciting artwork, design, photography, and visual ideas today.
Exhibitions
