ARTIST AND DESIGNER MICHELE OKA DONER HAS SPENT A LIFETIME TRANSLATING THE FORMS, RHYTHMS AND MYSTERIES OF THE NATURAL WORLD INTO SCULPTURE, OBJECTS AND MONUMENTAL PUBLIC WORKS.
BY ANETTA NOWOSIELSKA
A daughter of Miami Beach whose work can be found in major collections and public spaces around the world, she considers the pleasures and peculiarities that continue to inspire her, from gardenias and ripe peaches to Odilon Redon, Wallace Stevens and the luxury of a great night’s sleep.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? A day at the beach with a book and an umbrella, watching the pelicans drift in air currents.
Which place in Miami still has the power to surprise you? Under the leafy dome of the monumental, historic banyan tree at Miami Beach’s new Bayshore Park. It’s otherworldly.
What object in your home could never be replaced? The library, a lifelong accretion by a human mollusk!
What scent instantly transports you? Gardenias on lush hedges in my friend Sooze’s garden.
Which work of art do you wish you owned? Anything by Odilon Redon. The Eye, The Raven, The Spider, The Dream, The Red Sphinx. I won’t be choosy!
What material do you never tire of working with, or simply holding? Clay. Like Latin, an unspoken language.
What is your favorite time of day? First thing in the morning, as light creeps in gently.
What natural form do you find endlessly inspiring? The branching patterns of leaves, trees and the veins in my own hands.
What always sparks your curiosity? Turning the page, literally and figuratively.
Which book has stayed with you the longest? Maria Sabina: Her Life and Chants, now held together by two strands of rope.
What is one luxury you never apologize for? A great night’s sleep.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? “Nomen est omen.” Naming is the omen.
What is something people almost always get wrong about Miami? Miami is seen as a stage set for life, a theatrical performance, instead of digging in, literally, to the underpinning that makes it an Edenic garden.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would be seated beside you? It would have to be a poet, and at the moment I nominate Wallace Stevens, so we could discuss The Palm at the End of the Mind (beyond the last thought)…
What do you hope people feel before they think when they encounter your work? Part of a cosmic whole.
What are you making room for in your life right now? Time to digest it all.
Complete the sentence: Creativity begins with… The act of unselfing.
