Jon was multi-talented – an autodidact – and I do not use that word lightly. If ever voracious applied to someone’s reading habits, it’s his. It was a daily sight to see him holding a book with one hand while stirring a pot, brushing his teeth, doing pretty much anything. He taught himself how to design buildings on construction sites without ever going to school for it. Last year, he passed all six parts of the NYS architectural exam.
But it’s his artistic talents I want to highlight here, hence the ‘text’ in architextural.
Above is a photo from an exhibit he and I (Cara) collaborated on in 2010. It started when he gave me the absolutely most inventive present I have ever received. He took the words from a poem in my first book and put them into an architectural drawing. It wasn’t long before a gallery full of these amazing works were on display at The Arts Center in Troy. You can read poet Geof Huth’s write-up of the show here. I am so grateful this documentation exists.
As in our artist statement for the show, we hoped for integrity at the intersection of our collaboration. I believe we had it.
Jon Lathrop 