Friday, March 30, 2007

bathrooms & kitchens by marguerita

























At home,the other two places,that I love to spend my time,besides my studio and my bedroom,are the bathroom and the kitchen.
Maybe because of the water.
I am a Pisces.
And as Life has given me a puzzle with continuous challenges,I end up creating kitchens and bathrooms,besides my drawings,paintings and sculptures.
About the kitchen,I always loved food,not that I eat so much,I am in fact ,rather a gourmet not a gourmand.
And I am always interested in finding flavors,tasting different cuisines and very curious about how Nature can be more creative than Humans.There is always a surprise.
And so much fun,to make a meal.
It is just the same ,as when I start a new artwork.
And the parfums and smells of different ingredients.
Of course,at times,when I get a headache,any smell will drive me out of my mind....
So going back to my kitchen...
when I was a little girl in Rio and Sao Paulo,,I would go out early in the morning, before school,to buy milk and walk around getting fresh fruits in the street feiras.
I still remember the smell of mangoes, the coconuts, and the African spices,the colors and the sounds.
And,then our maid,Bibinha,her name in fact was Rosalina,but I changed it,would bring a live chicken ,to make stock, and had to deal with a fight with me,as I did not want her to kill the poor bird.
My mother had a volume of the French Larousse Gastronomique, that she brought from Paris,where she landed after the war,and books on pastries.
She loved to make pastries,something I inherited from her too. ah...her lemon meringues....
My mother loved the home.Beautiful linens and towels.


And comfortable beds.
Food at home.
No short cuts.
And bathrooms,oh I love a bathtub.
To hang out in the water.And get a bain de figuier soap.
The parfum of a fig tree...... and let my mind float.

Maybe I was a Roman Princess...... maybe I lived in Pompeii.
And poof I went,when Vesuvio blew up.
When I went there,years ago,I was wondering around in the ruins,
and felt as I knew the place quite well.Of course,there were some minor changes in the meantime.....but the bakery, and the fountains,and that lust is still in the air.
So,in my inumerous years in New York,I created few kitchens and bathrooms.
In lofts on 19th Street,on 17th Street,in a restaurant on Second Avenue, in a loft on Third Avenue and where we live now.


I painted the walls in one and created from scratch another one,a la zen.my way.

photographs by marguerita

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