Studio Life

In 2009, artist and writer Sarah Trigg embarked on an ambitious field expedition across the United States, interviewing more than two-hundred artists in their studios. She sat down with everyone-from painters to performance artists-to investigate a wide range of art-making practices. The result is Studio Life, a fascinating photographic and written account of one hundred of her most illuminating visits. Trigg asks her subjects to share objects and working habits in six categories: mascots, collected objects, rituals, makeshift tools, residue, and habitats. These talismans and behaviors provide a framework for artists to reveal insights into their practices and the nature of the creative life. Intriguing and often humorous anecdotes emerge-of one studio's mysterious sealed vault, another's resident bunny-and countless sources of inspiration are unearthed: vintage comics, purses, and kitschy figurines; faded yearbooks and treasured cards and letters; and one handwritten reminder to "Quit Feelin' Sorry for Yourself." Accessible and relevant for amateur aesthetes and art-world professionals alike, Studio Life offers an insider's view of the artistic process as well as a snapshot of the most interesting work being produced today.