Alison Saar, 9 years old (center) with father Richard Saar and sisters Lezley, 12, and Tracye, 4, at the Watts Towers, Los Angeles, August 1965.

“Growing up in L.A., we went to the Watts Towers frequently. I recall being at the bottom and looking up and seeing how parts of it create a kind of spiderweb. That sight has stayed with me all my life. It’s phenomenal and otherworldly the way the towers suddenly appear when you approach them from a distance. They stand out as an incredible, very out-of-place thing, like Oz. [Simon] Rodia and Watts Towers had a great impact on my work and the way I think about making my art-making process. They taught me that art can be made out of anything, and that if you have the desire and the passion to make something, you should go ahead and do it regardless of your audience.”

Excerpted from “Family Outing” by Alison Saar, published in Art in America (September 2012).

An solo exhibition by Alison Saar titled “Hothouse” is currently on view at the Watts Towers Art Center. On view through October 12, 2014. Click here for more details. 

Photo by Betye Saar.