D A N D A IL E Y
installations, such as
Staircase
in Abandoned Racquetball
Court
© , to smaller w orks like
Splitting
©. A ll are what
C asey calls “ frozen moments,
celebrating an instant”—
ghostly rocking chairs, a gust
o f w ind, silk organza tossed
and captured midair. Her
approach combines meticulous
plotting and craftsm anship
(skills she honed as a seam-
stress and pattern m aker),
active engagem ent w ith a giv-
en environm ent, a fascination
w ith cause and effect, and an
affinity for material.
C asey recently opened her
first studio, in Portland, O r-
egon, where lately she’s been
focused on a major commis-
sion, a “ wall o f string” for a
large office space. T o help pay
the bills, she also has a full-
time job repairing sails and
canvas boat covers in a sail
loft—w ork she greatly enjoys.
She’s taken part in several
exhibitions (including the
“ Searchlight A rtist” emerging
talent showcase at the A m eri-
can C raft Council Show in
Baltim ore) and likes seeing
her w ork in a gallery setting,
but also dreams o f doing more
interactive, public projects,
such as set design or w indow
dressing.
“ W h at’s exciting about
M aggie is that she’s not caught
up in marketplace concerns
or the hype o f getting into the
correct gallery or show,” says
her teacher and mentor, the
artist W arren Seelig. “ Rather,
she’s w orking hard to find
a ‘place’ and an audience re-
sponsive to her w ay o f think-
ing.” Seelig believes Casey
“ represents a new breed o f
textile artist, a young vision-
ary in love w ith all things
involving the materials and
processes inherent to the me-
dium, yet w ho at the same
time is drawn to art, architec-
ture and science as a source
o f inspiration.”
For Casey, it’s fundamen-
tally about “ having a response
to your m aterial, whether it’s
toothpicks or macaroni noo-
dles. M aking it do something
it wants to do. T h at’s really
basic.”—j .l .
G im m e M ore!
m aggiecasey.com
B E Y O N D T H E M A T E R I A L ”
THREE MASTERS
DANIEL CLAYMAN
CLIFFORD RAINEY
JANUSZ WALENTYNOWICZ
HABATATGALLERIES - FLORIDA
608 Banyan Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33431
561.241.4544
info@ habatatgalleries.com
