Draft One....
Growing up in a house surrounded by art, it never occurred to me that art would not be a part of the environments I created. From childhood on I have been a diligent observer of people. It was a survival tactic, enabling me to predict how they would act and react and therefore prepare myself for what was ahead. To satisfy my curiosity about why people did what they did, and what humans need to cope with the joys and challenges of life; I studied psychology in college and eventually made my way into a career as a behavioral scientist. I began to think about exploring a vocation as an artist in my mid twenties. Art is the space in which I explore the experience of being human, not as a scientist, but as a philosopher.
The language with which I make these explorations is that of abstractions. As intense and intimate as human experiences can be, I seek to view them from the outside rather than from within, thereby sharing with the viewer a more global perspective on the themes. Figures have their place in this work, not as representations of individuals, nor as images of beauty, but as portrayals of emotions. Drawings in paper become drawings painstakingly executed by laying down glass in powder form, somewhat inspired by my experience watching Australian aborigines create sand paintings in a museum in Paris in the mid 1970’s. As the glass powder is laid down, layer by layer, my point of reference, the drawing, is obliterated. These powder drawings are fired in a kiln, and when the firing is complete and the glass has cooled, the image they create is revealed. This process enables me to preserve the drawings I first make in charcoal on paper that quickly yellows and disintegrates. I take an image that was once fragile and, using a medium thought of as fragile, recreate the image into something that can endure the centuries without fading. It lends an unparalleled permanence to the art.
The last few years of my life have been about loss; anticipating it, helping others through it, living it. It was inevitable that this experience would make its way into my work as an artist. The work of Sean Scully is a recent influence. Layering colors in this work, leaves the viewer with brief glimpses of what lies beneath the surface; what supports us through the trials that weigh us down.
The language with which I make these explorations is that of abstractions. As intense and intimate as human experiences can be, I seek to view them from the outside rather than from within, thereby sharing with the viewer a more global perspective on the themes. Figures have their place in this work, not as representations of individuals, nor as images of beauty, but as portrayals of emotions. Drawings in paper become drawings painstakingly executed by laying down glass in powder form, somewhat inspired by my experience watching Australian aborigines create sand paintings in a museum in Paris in the mid 1970’s. As the glass powder is laid down, layer by layer, my point of reference, the drawing, is obliterated. These powder drawings are fired in a kiln, and when the firing is complete and the glass has cooled, the image they create is revealed. This process enables me to preserve the drawings I first make in charcoal on paper that quickly yellows and disintegrates. I take an image that was once fragile and, using a medium thought of as fragile, recreate the image into something that can endure the centuries without fading. It lends an unparalleled permanence to the art.
The last few years of my life have been about loss; anticipating it, helping others through it, living it. It was inevitable that this experience would make its way into my work as an artist. The work of Sean Scully is a recent influence. Layering colors in this work, leaves the viewer with brief glimpses of what lies beneath the surface; what supports us through the trials that weigh us down.
posted by Barbara Muth at 10:06 PM
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