In some ways, the exhibition serves as a visual representation of the divide that exists between Herman’s fiction work and her collections of nonfiction essays, with the gallery split between oil still lifes that Holland completed earlier in his career and more recent pieces done in egg tempera – a change in medium driven by tremors Holland began to experience in 2009, and which toxicologists eventually traced to years of exposure to the mineral spirits present in oil paints. 

This discovery triggered a series of crises for Holland, who stopped painting for a time, returning to it after discovering egg tempera. “And so, he would order pigments from Germany, and then he started each day by cracking an egg,” Herman said. “And for a while after that, he continued making still lifes, but he wasn’t happy, because he couldn’t get those vibrant colors. So, another crisis, and then he began making cartoons, which was something he’d always done for relaxation. … And the first ones he felt good about, those are the ones you see in the first gallery there.”

Read the full interview on Matter News!