By Caitlin Donohue
Artist Lea Redmond gets all kinds of adorable with her “World’s Smallest Postal Service”
Lea Redmond does not suffer for a lack of ideas. The lady has a degree in making common place objects make us feel new sensations- literally. Her thesis from her days at my favorite crunchy Northwestern school, Whitman College, was inspired by the story of a man who saw his Indonesian hostess placing small leaf-boats of rice around her huts “for the spirits.” The rice always disappeared, so one day the man sat to watch what was becoming of it. He found out a trail of ants taking away the grains, and initially was disappointed- until the “strange juxtaposition” struck him. Maybe the ants were the spirits, after all! Redmond’s art is all about causing us to reconsider the schemas we carry of everyday objects. Her brainchildren range from creative courtship advising to redoing clothing tags so that they say socially equitable messages. Currently, she’s finding major buzz with her World’s Smallest Postal Service, which has her schlepping a tiny desk all over the country to transcribe stranger’s messages onto the most twee notecards you’ve ever done seen. Lea’s based in the Bay Area, so check her site for the next day she’s going postal near you. (Caitlin Donohue)
San Francisco Bay Guardian:Where to start… so, where are you from?
Lea Redmond: The literal answer is that I grew up on the Southern California coast right between the conservatism of Orange County and the wildness of the Pacific Ocean. My family did things, like we’d all play hooky once a year when I was in elementary school and we’d go to the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Museum. I remember standing in front of oil paintings completely mesmerized and boggled about how tiny dabs of paint could magically turn into pictures. I still don’t understand. One Christmas I got crayons in my stocking in the shape of miniature Coca Cola bottles. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 8. She also loved to collect small things. I suppose these are my roots.