Artists' Fellowship - 1989
Sculpture
Artist Statement:
The work I make has to do with the elemental. I construct forces of nature to produce small ecstasies. Using transparency, translucency, reflection, color and a variety of materials the pieces in general are meant to convey life, in a modest way, in its glory. These are objects almost to be touched, the approach is a homegrown plastic quality. The materials used are a variety of plastics, reconfigured depending on the structure and the meaning of each piece. Plastic for me is the realist material I know as a form of sculpture expression. The color flexibility and light quality of it
expresses a particularly heightened experience for me. I like to work in collaboration with light. The work is consistently light in weight and/or light letting.
These are sincere landscapes combined with a pop sensibility. Sexuality sensuality pleasure. Its a creation myth, a desire to be embraced by the largest idea, show intimacy. When a woman is older, bolder.... what's the story, how, what is desire? It is fun to remake the world.
More about the Artist:
I came to New York from the Rhode Island School of Design in the mid 1970s. Until the mid-80s much of my work was about Super-8 films and painting. The films were stories. I was painting portraits. I used live sitters and has a series of gallery shows. My dealer at that time was Semaphore Gallery in NYC. I was also part of an artists' collective called Colab. We were a loose group of 30 or so artists who organized the "Times Sq. Show" in 1980 and had several cable TV shows in the late 70s and early 80s. I started making sculpture in the mid-80s. My early work was landscape oriented. I started making objects that were elements of nature, ie, a pack of dogs or a dead tree. My dealer at this time was Fawbish Gallery in NYC. I was also making sets for the Frankfurt Ballet. I worked with the director William Forsythe from 1983-1991 on various sers for contemporary stage pieces. In the early 90s I began work on a series of inflatables, which lasted for several years. Part of the allure for me was their portability. I was not thwarted by scale or having to rent storage. There was a lot of freedom. I also felt influenced by my work at the ballet where everything was made light and easy to manage and variation of scale was constant. This work culminated in a Guggenheim grant, which produced a 25'-high inflated boulder, which I showed on the roof of the Deitch Gallery NYC in the late 1990s. I am continuing my work in sculpture. It has still to do with wotk, which is elemental, brute and camouflaged. I am using transparent plastics and mirrored plexiglas. The forms continue to be singular fragments of nature. I recently finished a film about an older woman named Jane Smith, mother of Kiki Smith and wife of Tony Smith. Also, participated in the exhibition Fifteen at Deutsche Bank, New York, from September-November 1999.
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