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American Gothics Around the Glen
By Deborah Taylor-Hollis
Even though there is a sign outside the store that says, "Slow Down You Have Plenty of Time," I had driven past the place every day for almost six months. Then one day I saw Audrey, and she made me stop and walk in. She was just sitting there, outside by the front door, beckoning to me. I had to spend almost 20 minutes talking myself out of taking her right then and there. She would have looked great on the porch on Halloween, glass teeth an open maw of needy metal, waiting for a meal, her long stalks reaching out from her blossom like face inside her trunk.
Audrey was a real, life-like homage to the man-eating plant from the movie, Little Shop of Horrors. She was a beautifully crafted piece of art with--due to her unique subject matter--limited mass-market appeal. In my eyes, however, she was perfect.
Audrey, the people-eating plant living in the steamer trunk, was just one of hundreds of beautifully crafted items for sale at Art Made To Match, my local gallery of all that is truly form precluding function. Currently out front, there is a footstool wearing silver pump shoes, a free-form flowing wrought iron garden with cactus, oil collages of great jazz artists (to complement the end of August event that will focus on jazz and include live music), mosaics, polished woods, crystals, ornaments, vases, tiles, soaps--the array of hand-crafted pieces defies a catalog and changes as often as the weather.
The shop, located at 1000 Lincoln Ave., at the corner of Coe Avenue, masquerades under the title, "The Sun God" to motorists as they slide past in rush-hour fixations. The pottery, bowls, paintings and objects too surreal to describe have been collected by the owner and resident artist Edward Seichei, who's rejected classically interpreted limitations in each medium.
"I like to have people's eyes get large and say 'Wow,'" he says, juggling phone calls, shoppers, friends bearing sushi and the current gardener-artist bringing in another truckload of earth.
"I opened up, not with a concession to be wealthy or successful, but for people's lives to be enhanced and inspired," he muses during a free flowing non-stop conversation we had on our first meeting. The artist/entrepreneur is a joy to watch as he dives into his subject matter. Seichei says his mother was an artist, while his dad was an engineer. "So mom was the dreamer and dad was the doer, a condition I inherited in equal parts."
Seichei feels that some creative souls never achieve anything concrete without the will to actually commit their dreams to reality through writing, painting, sculpting or whatever medium in which they dream.
His artistic dreams started seven years ago at a site in Santa Clara. Commercially unsuited for the public traffic he wanted to attract, Seichei moved the store 18 months ago to the old gas station lot and began interviewing fellow artists. He was looking for others like himself, eager to explore all the possibilities, but willing to create "as needed" sometimes.
While explaining his views on art--"People's lives need to be enhanced and inspired"--he happily worked with a local homeowner needing a portable tent frame for a Jewish wedding ceremony that would be artistic, beautiful, well made and light enough to transport easily during the ceremony. Seichei strives for artistic endeavors that suit the lives of his customers.
The city of San Jose's outdoor public art exhibit, which now spreads throughout the downtown area, focuses on sharks--and Seichei's latest piece is on display courtesy of funding through Orchard Supply Hardware, one of hundreds of sponsors of the event. The pieces will be auctioned off later this year at the Arena, and his final creation is a unique take on the basic form and style in "Shark."
Seichei's unexpected extravagance with life's knickknacks is reflected everywhere in the store, like sun bouncing off glass tentacles, or the sharp-toothed open-mouthed fish vase, with flowers going down its throat.
October will feature "Gruesomy Gruesomes--the Dark Side of Art," as well as a performance piece to highlight the focus of the month, something in which Art Made To Match excels.
Contact the store at 408.287.4278, or on the web at www.madetomatch.com. Contact Deborah Taylor Hollis at DTHollis@Metronews.com.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
