Pictured: (Upper) Giotto's Starlets, John McQueen, willow sticks and waxed string. (Lower) Lorenzo, John Sonsini, oil on canvas.
Both owned by Ian Berry, Director, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery.

Both Sonsini and McQueen are very independent artists, not particularly moved by fads or by the marketplace. I appreciate that about both of them. They represent in some way a mentoring voice to me, in terms of how to live a life.

My relationship with art is inextricably linked to my whole life. It’s a fluid exchange. I initially went to college to make art; I also studied art history, and I’ve had many jobs involved with artists and inside museums.  It’s always been part of my daily life, and I get a lot back from my involvement with art - I get ideas, I get inspiration, I get a grounding.  The people I meet and interact with become part of my family.  

I’m not sure I think of the works in our house as a formal “collection.” It’s work that we live with, and we each have our favorites. We move things around in the house, and everybody gets different things in their rooms. We don’t sit down and have an organized shopping list of sorts, like many collectors I know.  Many artworks in the house come from artists I’ve worked with as a curator. In a way, acquiring a work continues that exchange.
Ian Berry, 2012