QUALE

I had the privilege of visiting with a lovely artist, poet and intellectual named Andi Shapiro yesterday afternoon. Andi has been a bright and pleasant follower of Mirth since our opening in March that coincided with her move to Marfa, TX. After a warm greeting, Andi served me a freshly-brewed, iced chai tea with milk in the thinnest crystal glass I have ever put to my lips--a delightful afternoon treat. She told me that the glass was a wedding present from Tiffany's years ago. Quickly, I knew that treasuring the experience of a perfectly crafted glass was one of many interests we shared.

After a tour of her and her husband Jim's beautiful home, Andi displayed her artwork for me. From her stories and associations with the works--ranging from the early 90's to the present--several themes surfaced and resonated with my own experiences of people, places, ideas and emotions. Andi informed me that the 'phenomenal character' of moments or relations to objects, meaning one's subjective sensory experience that floats between the physical world and a cognitive conscious, is called quale or qualia (pl.) in philosophy, an unfamiliar term to express a quality that is ineffable and strangely familiar to an individual. In her work, Andi daringly chases qualia, delicately plucking trinkets from the physical world to render new symbols and coax a visual language that evokes that which is verbally inexpressible.

Often I find my thoughts and desires difficult to articulate which can be dreadfully frustrating, but perhaps impulse needs no explanation. In celebration of this newfound purpose for many confusing moments in life, I vow to never question the ineffable in myself...for example, why I'm so attracted to Andi's partially painted over mouse brain or this perfectly organized washi tape display.

-Jessica for Mirth