NEW YORK
2019
Carved wood frame, mosses, willow and bracket fungi, needlepoint portrait
38 1/2″ x 32″

This is a recent addition to the “Follies” series by Lawton Mull. The portrait of a maiden is English circa 1800. The embroidery on silk is wonderful–observe the ship and lighthouse in the distance, the richly colored landscape close behind. Her face and hands are watercolor and exquisitely expressive. She and her world are being gradually overtaken by mosses and fungi, and this entire collage is set in an early 20th century carved and gilt wood frame.

In 18th century English and French gardens, a folly was a faux building, such as a Roman or Chinese temple or a ruined abbey, evoking another time and place, often symbolizing Classical virtues. Ours is a contemporary take on the folly, creating the illusion of the wild world overtaking the civilized and allowing for a new ideal of beauty.

All parts of this decorative work are unique and were assembled by hand, by Cordelia Lawton and Patrick Mull, in their Long Island City design studio.