Dinner Party Guest #1: Chris Larson
photo by Sarah Faith Strong
There is a special place in my heart that has been carved out for Chris Larson over the years. We met in the Voltage: Fashion Amplified days, and he went on to help define and refine the branded identity of MNfashion and Voltage et al in 2010/2011 and then proceeded to work with a number of other fashion designers on their projects. I could always tell when he was involved in something, as his imprint on things have always been distinct and sophisticated.
The beauty of time is that those who are supposed to be in our lives will always return, and the last several years have given us more time to deepen our friendship and reach a place of creative-confidantes of a sort. He is one of the first people I share my early, formless ideas with as he has a way of anticipating where I may be going with something, and asks fantastic questions that help me both focus and run wild with an idea.
When he asked about testing out a mural idea in the raw space at the Arthouse that I am turning into a “secret” art gallery, I was so excited to see what he was working on. His gift wrapping company Wrapture has been such a delight to see grow and evolve, as his ways of working with color and pattern are so fresh and engaging. He has a mushroom print that everyone loves, and if I recall correctly I asked if he would be including mushrooms in the mural. I am so glad he did, as it helped establish something really lovely.
photo by Billy Hawk for Wrapture
Chris and I have talked Mother Trees for years. We were housemates in Minneapolis when I had the idea, and he has workshopped the many angles of it with me since the beginning. It has been fun to bring back some of the old collaborative energy from our early days, but on a far more artistic and philosophical level. The week he spent on the mural at the Arthouse was one of my favorite weeks over the summer- what I dreamed of with the Arthouse this whole time- the ability to hold space for others to deepen their creative practice and to be inspired as well. By the time the week was over, we had already met up and mapped out the dinner with Candace and Sarah. By the time we hosted the dinner, the mural was a permanent work of art in the Arthouse Gallery and core to the experience of the Mother Trees project.
