Interview by Ilana Grollman.
IG: What was the process of going through all the work and working with Peter Barberie (the curator) like?
MP: Peter Barberie is a friend of Larry’s and mine and the show was initiated when Larry was still alive. It was initially going to be a show for Larry. It was very bittersweet and very mixed. We picked Larry’s work first. There’s a lot of nature and death, because of all the animals we’ve had on the farm. I think that was something that stuck out to him. I have to be honest, Larry was dying. It was really hard for me to think about all this, how things came together. I just opened up my studio to Peter. I pulled out a lot of personal drawings, which he included in the show of all these animals that I have done, not just the ones who are dying or who had been wounded, but personal drawings I did, which I was surprised and delighted to see how they were installed in the show.
IG: Seeing all of the work from you and Larry Fink together, are there any new connections or observations you’ve made that you previously didn’t think of?
MP: Well, the whole thing is a new observation and connection. Larry and I connected because we lived in the same area. He photographed around the woods as well, and he photographed much of my work. I have the best announcement cards of anybody on the planet because I had the great Larry Fink photograph for me. I guess, just to see the breadth of years of work from both of us, in this space, and to see that there is a real conversation, it’s a very intuitive, or rather visceral conversation. I had no idea how Peter was going to do this. The installation is gorgeous. Peter picked the work, but the installation was organized by Lacie and Peter, and I think Lacie did the initial installation.
IG: What was the artistic collaboration process with you and Larry Fink like during your marriage?
MP: Larry and I were together for almost 34 years. Living with another artist, it’s a good thing that we weren’t both in the same medium. I’ve always said that most people will look at something and have a similar feeling. A lot of people have the same inclination, but it takes a different kind of drive and ego to decide I’m going to pursue it. I’m going to make something, so you have two people with relatively strong egos who want to see something in the world and want to make it happen.
MP: There’s no such thing as two equal partners in a relationship. It’s always give and take. I’ll share with you a lively discussion, and borderline argument we had. I was working on a piece called Boat for a Night’s Journey, and it was in process. It was a sculptural piece, and I was very excited about it. Larry came into the studio and said I think you should get rid of this piece, it’s not going anywhere. I banned him from the studio, and I came back later to the house, and I said, listen, you work from the outside in. I work from the inside out, and you’re just going to have to step back and wait until it’s done. Now, when I worked two-dimensionally on painting and drawing, it was a whole different thing. I was happy to have him come in and say, I think you need to tweak this. Larry was not only a great photographer, musician, and poet, but he knew painting. He knew composition. And he was bloody brilliant.
Image credit: Martha Posner, Rabbit and Wings, 2009. Courtesy of the artist and the Sarasota Art Museum.
