No. 16: Olive Diamond
Le Jardin Humoristique, rainbow pileus clouds, Cleo, Rudolph Maeglin and bug brooches
Olive Diamond is a painter and ceramicist born & based in Los Angeles. She studied painting and ceramics at the Rhode Island School of Design, and this year had her first solo exhibition at Sow & Tailor. Her work has been shown in Seoul, Stockholm, London, and more over the past few years and has been featured in Flaunt Magazine, Architectural Digest, and Surface Magazine (to name a few). I’ve known Olive since we were younger (we were neighbors growing up) and I am so inspired by her work.. one of my favorite pieces —
I. a sculpture garden
Le Jardin Humoristique was made by Fernand Chatelain in 1965 when he and his wife retired to a house connecting the small community of Fyé, France, to neighboring towns. Chatelain spent 20 years decorating the garden with fun, brightly painted sculptures of animals, people, small buildings, and various small vehicles, depicting jolly, humorous scenes. He helped travelers between the two cities by providing signs telling motorists how far it was to either Alençon or le Mans, as well as a friendly male sculpture greeting walkers that bore the text Bonjour aux promeneurs (Hello, Walkers). After his death in 1988 the site went through many years of neglect, but in 2005, many of the works were rebuilt and repainted. The garden is open to visitors during the summer, and most of it can be seen from the street throughout the other seasons, as intended by the artist.
I am hugely inspired by artists who extend their work into and outside their homes, pushing boundaries of domestic ornamentation and creating fantastical worlds for those who pass. Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden in Tuscany is another great example of this. I love the assemblage, ad hoc, and playful aspects of Chatelain’s garden and am looking forward to making my own future garden a work of art as well.
II. a cloud
Rainbow pileus clouds (also known as fire rainbows) are a unique phenomenon showing colorful iridescence formed on a pileus cloud. Pileus, sometimes called cap clouds or scarf clouds, are smooth clouds that form atop a growing cumulus cloud (normal cauliflower shaped clouds). Iridescent pileus clouds are caused by particularly tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air. Larger ice crystals produce lunar or solar halos, but tiny ice crystals or water droplets cause light to be diffracted, spread out, creating this rainbow-like effect in the clouds.
I have yet to see one in person but I am just waiting for the perfect conditions and my lucky day! There was a sighting this year in Haikou, China, where residents were reported to be mesmerized by the rare phenomena.
III. a bag
Cleo was founded by my friend Cleo Camp in 2023. The brand is inspired by the summers Cleo spent growing up with her grandmother, Tai Tai, in a sea-side town called Le Trayas. Cleo's light cotton materials, shimmery textures and floral accents are inspired by the Mistral- a fervid summer storm of warm rain, powerful gusts of wind and silver clouds that hang glowing over the vast navy sea. The origin of Cleo began with the iconic Cleo Bag- for day & night handmade in Los Angeles to be worn, lived in and loved.
I am lusting over every single Cleo bag, I want them all, every color, every style. It was so hard to pick but I just bought the Naughty Bag in crimson and I can’t stop wearing it. We are planning on releasing a collaborative reversible bag in the spring…so keep an eye out. In the meantime, Cleo is available to purchase via instagram @cleo__camp.
IV. a painter
I recently discovered a new favorite painter, Rudolph Maeglin. Maeglin (1892-1971) faithfully depicted factories, workers and construction sites in Basel from 1919 until his death in 1971. In the early 1920s, he traveled to Italy and France, where he studied at the academies Grande Chaumière and Colarossi in Paris. Returning to Basel in 1927, Maeglin supported himself through work in construction and dye factories. His colleagues and the city of Basel, undergoing urbanization, became his primary subjects. In 1933, he co-founded Group33, a collective of artists opposed to Nazi influence. Maeglin was openly gay during a conservative period in Switzerland. His paintings trouble the stereotype of laborers as a fixed masculine identity.
I saw Maeglin’s “Red” series at Meredith Rosen Gallery’s booth at Art Basel Miami and the paintings have been on rotation in my mind ever since. I love the way they are painted wet into wet with confidence, the beautiful reds and neutral grays. Outside of his “Red” series, I keep returning to his paintings of interior and exterior painting facades with people moving through, they feel very gentle in a beautiful way.
V. a collection of brooches
For the past ten years I have been collecting bug brooches, specifically spiders and beetles. Possibly the most popular time for insect jewelry was the Victorian period, ranging from 1837 to 1901. I wear a spider earring on the flat of my ear and I love adding them to coats as if the bugs are crawling up.. and sometimes my hair too. I also pin them into the walls in my studio so they creep up the walls. I hunt for these at every antique, thrift, and consignment store I come across, as well as obsessively bidding on ebay listings. I have many different collections, but the bug brooches are my favorite. I am not really into the real ones, bugs I mean, but their unique bodies and patterns are hard to resist when it comes to adornment.
~ bulletin ~
los angeles
Open: Claudia Keep’s Almanac closes tomorrow at Parker Gallery. Fashion still life photographer Sheila Metzner’s From Life at The Getty. Elizabeth Neel’s The Ghosts of My Friends at Vielmetter closes Saturday. Not LA… but a nice holiday weekend road trip… 100 Hooks show at Blunk Space in San Francisco. Hannah Taurin’s Issues at Chateau Shatto. Jonas Woods’ Drawings 2003-2023 at Karma.
new york
Open: Women Dressing just opened at The Met. Ed Ruscha’s NOW THEN at MoMA. Tracey Emin’s Lovers Grave at White Cube. Jenna Gribbon’s The Honeymoon Show! at Levy Gorvy Dayan. Robert Ryman 1961 - 1964 at David Zwirner. Ann Craven’s Night at Karma. Henry B Taylor’s B Side and Ruth Asawa’s Through Line at The Whitney. A Glorious Bewilderment: Marie Menken’s ‘Visual Variations on Noguchi’ at the Noguchi Museum.