“I am constantly trying to find ways to utilize elements.” / “Everything has a pattern.” / “Everything can be something.” / “There are no mistakes in art, and there are no expiration dates on ideas.”
I have heard variations on these statements throughout the two years I’ve been collaborating with and learning from artist Robert Paige. The notion that design can be perceived everywhere is integral to my understanding of his practice, which is rooted in the experiences of quotidian life. He emphasizes moments that, while seemingly ordinary, richly illustrate how people make meaning in their lives and negotiate the world around them. This infuses Paige’s multidisciplinary approach, which spans more than sixty years, and encompasses textile dyeing, painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, and installation. His critical eye toward juxtaposition brings seemingly incongruous colors and shapes together to accentuate underlying hues and shades and brings dimensional elements into intricate dialogue. Always maintaining his position as both a fine artist and commercial designer, Paige continues to grow his practice as he experiments with new mediums and methods of making, fueled by his belief in ever-shifting modes of creativity.
In an iconic image from a magazine advertisement, Paige sits amid lush greenery, surrounded by his designs adorning pillowcases, duvet covers, and drapes. Seated cross-legged in a brown suit, his calm, intent stare pulls the viewer into his world of geometric shapes in vibrant, warm tones. The image is an ad for Paige’s Dakkabar home furnishing collection, which was inspired by patterns, colors, and object designs from Senegal and distributed across 126 Sears stores throughout the United States in the early 1970s. Released at the tail end of the civil rights movement, the distinctly West African diasporic aesthetic approach of the collection affirmed both the rich artistry of this region and the complex histories of Black life in the United States. Paige gestured to more expansive conceptions of home by situating African American placemaking within the quintessentially “American” brand of Sears. Reflecting on the collection, he emphasizes a pleasure in creating accessible home interior designs that resonated with Black communities, so they felt seen: “It gave my community and friends something to be elated over. It gave you the idea that there are not only possibilities, but no limits on how you can extend yourself.”[1]
NOTES:
[1] Robert Paige, conversation with author, 2021–22. All subsequent direct quotes from Paige in this essay are from these conversations.
Excerpt from Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century, (Cooper Hewitt | The MIT Press, 2025) published in companion with Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial (New York, Nov. 2024-Aug. 2025)
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Gervais Marsh