Candy Depew: Between Worlds
October 5-November 26, 2006
Physick House Museum
Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Robert Wuilfe

For Between Worlds, Depew is responding to both the abundance of French influenced neoclassical decorative elements in the Physick House and the medical accomplishments of Dr. Physick. Depew presents viewers with a conversation about perceived beauty, life and the passing of time. Just as the surface splendor of the Physick House conceals a rich history of scientific advances and investigations into human life and death, so Depew’s artwork offers an unexpectedly deep exploration of the fragility of materials and life that exists beneath the surface of 'beautiful' objects.” By incorporating her contemporary fabrics, sculptures, porcelain and china with existing historic collections, visitors will also have the opportunity to see the house a new light. We are moving past the age when historic houses can get away with simply setting up unchanging, reconstructed environments and expect them to have lasting relevance for audiences.

A 2002 Pew Fellow, Depew works in a variety of media including, but not limited to ceramics, printmaking and installation art. She is fascinated by the decorative arts, and travels around the United States and Europe researching collections of decorative arts and ornamental wallpaper prints. She recently completed residencies at both the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin and the European Keramic Work Centre in the Netherlands. As Depew has written, “My work investigates the environments created by and for collections, and represents my interest in the history of decorative arts, ornamentation, and finally, the arrangement of interior space.”

From the display of medical instruments, to the neoclassical wallpaper influenced by Roman wall paintings, Depew is fascinated by the combination of history, science and decorative art that is the legacy of Dr. Physick. For her, the house evokes a complex metaphor of the passage of time and the delicacy of life. “There is a thin veil between the conscious and unconscious worlds that seems even thinner and almost permeable during the fall season, which is the time of this installation for Physick House,” says Depew. “This is the time of year that we can imagine the ‘other side’, the mirror reflection of our waking and breathing life, with relative ease. It has been said that the unconsciousness of surgery can be considered a portal between worlds, and has been, like sleep, likened to a glimpse of death.”

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