Lay Down Dream (2007)
Jessica Anne Schwartz
Lay Down Dream (2007)
Fibreglass, resin, pigment, metal
88.9 × 203.2 cm
Private collection of the author
What would you do if you stumbled upon a ‘love at first sight’ work of art that was halfway around the world when you found it? That’s a question I didn’t hesitate to answer when I was temporarily living in San Francisco ten years ago and saw Lay Down Dream. As far as impulse purchases go, this was a biggie for three distinct reasons.
Up until that point, my collection was leaning towards abstraction but the works I had acquired were still recognisable things: some stylised landscapes, an abstracted map of Manhattan, and the floating boats. I was only hesitantly dipping my toe into the world of abstracts. Lay Down Dream changed all that. It was something entirely different.
For a start, you’re not really sure what it is. Depending on the light in which they see it, many people initially think it’s stained glass. It’s actually fibreglass, which has been layered and pressed onto an old metal mattress support that’s been strung into a wooden frame. The colours are reverse painted, which enhances the stained glass effect. And that’s just a technical explanation. Visually, you’re still not really sure what it is.
Looking very much like someone has enlarged a microscopic scan of a CRT TV, you could argue that it’s an elaborate colour study. It’s primarily comprised of found objects, but you’d be hard pressed to claim it as assemblage. To me, it’s just an abstract sculpture-painting that I happen to find incredibly engaging to look at. Especially when lights shimmer off the shiny surface.
Oh… and it’s big. So big that it looks quite heavy but is actually incredibly light. It’s 2 metres wide and just under 1 metre high — but that was only an issue when it came to getting it home. Buy me a pint and maybe I’ll tell you how much the shipping and import taxes cost me. Maybe.
By far it was the most abstract, largest and most expensive work of art I had acquired at that point in my collection. I can still recall the excitement I felt when I first saw it, and how happy I was when Jessica agreed to sell it to me. I knew at the time that adding that piece to my collection would be a bold statement that I was finally going all-in on abstract art.
I’ve often wondered why it took such a large work to set my affirmation for abstract in motion. By that point I’d been collecting for 7 years. I’ve bought many more works since, but if you analyse the acquisitions both before and after, it stands out as a clear and obvious inflection point in the evolution of my taste and budget as a collector.
Lay Down Dream is now 15 years old — I adopted it when it was 5! — and the colours have slowly faded over time. You can see that if you compare my first photo (2012) to the most recent (2021). So I’ve made yet another bold decision about this work: I decided to take it down during my last rehang. It’s now safely stored away, out of the light, but not out of my mind. Patiently waiting for when it will once again make me smile every day as I see it on my walls.
That’s why I like it.
Sometimes art encourages you to be bold.
Bonus Photos
You know a work of art is a classic when it looks just as good in a Victorian sitting room as it does in a New York City style loft.
Additional reading:
Official website: jessicaanneschwartz.com
Follow @keepyourschwartzon on Instagram
Watch this Mini-documentary on Vimeo (8 min)
Previously, on Why I Like It:
Oct — Family of Robot (1986), Nam June Paik
Sep — H2O (2005), Vassilis Karakatsanis
Aug — Composition C (No.III) with Red, Yellow and Blue (1935), Piet Mondrian