Paula Gillen

More Works: Interior Dance States of Mary Wigman - 2014

This 2014 work combines imagery of the German modern dancer Mary Wigman from the 1933 book "Das Mary Wigman Werk" by Rudolf Bach, with another 1933 book, Color Schemes for the Modern Home by Derek Patmore. Also used are interiors from the Library of Congress archives and photos pulled from vintage magazines. Pieces were added later (2018-2021) 

"It has been proven that colours affect the eye in a physiological manner--that is to say that all colours cause in the eye a physical and {psychological] reaction." --Derek Patmore 

"Each dance is unique and free, a separate organism whose form is self-determined" --Mary Wigman 

  • Mary Wigman dances in a music room designed by Oliver Hill. The walls and ceiling are papered in gold leaf and varnished. The space is an interesting study in tones of beige, brown, and gold. The curved ceiling is designed for sound. (2015)
  • Mary Wigman rests in this gay and colorful, elegantly modern, living room designed by Betty Joel. Grey-blue, azure, and Chinese pink and palm lemon tones accent the stunning Sierra Leone wooden mask on the sofa. (2014)
  • Green is a complex colour. Mary Wigman strikes a pensive pose in a deco dining room carried out in apple green and silver. A sense of space has been created by placing an engraved mirror above the silver painted fireplace. This room was designed by General Electric Company to show off various kinds of lighting, direct and indirect. (2014)
  • Mary Wigman poses on a large settee in a room with Chinese yellow varnished walls. Behind Mary is an 18th century Japanese screen in tones of gold and black. Design by Derek Patmore. (2018)
  • This dining room, designed by R. W. Symonds and Robert Lutens for the Baroness Ravensdale, shows a scheme devised as a setting for its owner's collection of Chinese jade and lacquer. The walls and ceiling are painted a Venetian red and decorated with pilasters carried out in black mirror glass with fluted caps and bases in Pompeian green. Black mirror glass also forms the architraves, which, lined with lacquered gold leaf, decorate the niches on each side of the fireplace. Gardenias rest gently on the table and in Mary Wigman's hair. (2018)
  • Mary Wigman commands your attention sitting in a warm toned modern living room of the Kaiser residence. The ceiling has an Abelardo Morell inspired theme projection. Room designed in 1967 by Paul Rudolph architect based in New York City. (2015)
  • Mary Wigman and dancers in a room designed by Serge Chermayeff for the sculptor, A. G. Gibbons Grinling. This room had to serve as both a living room and studio. Austrailian wood and built in furniture provides a large ledge on which groups of dancers can be placed. (2018)
  • Mary Wigman moves in this simple living room designed by Ronald Dickens. The room displays an effective scheme in tones of greens and browns. The only decoration on the walls is the coloured print of Van Gogh painting. (2015)
  • Mary Wigman strikes a pose wearing a peacock Inspired frock and African mask in a lovely pink drawing room designed by John Hill for Messrs Green & Abbott, Ltd. Colors of rose, grey, cream, ginger colour scheme predominate. The peacock top is an element from the James Abbott McNeill Whistler Peacock Room, at the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2014)
  • Mary Wigman arms gracefully intrude into a John Armstrong dining room, decorated with panels depicting scenes from ancient Rome. Sky blue, burnt sienna and golden yellow colors create a pleasant illusion of space. (2014)
  • Mary Wigman arches back towards the viewer standing on a Chinese Cabinet photographed by Hassel Cassidy in 1951. A study in precise arrangement. (2018)
  • Mary Wigman disco dancing in the Edersheim's apartment, New York City.  Architecture is by Paul Rudolph (2014-2021)
  • Mary Wigman Meditation on Glass. (2021)
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  • Head Trip: The 80s
  • OH SO BIG
  • Collages 2001-2021
  • Paleontology Pin Up Series
  • More Works
    • Trigger Warnings - 2021
    • Interior Dance States of Mary Wigman - 2014
    • Celebrity Masks - 2009
    • Collage Portraits 1985-2007
    • Bush Years 2001-2007
    • Babies from Heaven, People In Hell - 2007
    • Ceramic Figurines 1992-2002
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© Paula Gillen is a photographer and collage artist based in Boulder, Colorado. Site design © 2010-2025 Neon Sky Creative Media