Preparing for a show
A new year and finally another blog. I have been busy pulling work together for my show at the Artisan Center of Virginia that will happen in March in Waynesboro, Virginia. There is nothing like the momentum and surge of energy you get before a show. You become fully focused and as the date of the opening comes closer it becomes clear what you need to get done to pull the show together. All the separate pieces you have been working on for the past year or two have to be looked over and touched up, you question the validity of the work and your right to call yourself an artist and realize you have to finish one more piece to make the show work. Then you have to write a new artist statement to go with the show, up-date your CV and take pictures of your new work for publicity. At this point I can see it all coming together and I feel a sense of anticipation and excitement. I will end this blog with a copy of my new artist statement.
Artist Statement
The theme for my work is a search for unity. Integrating different materials and forms into one sculpture gives voice to the search. I usually have an initial idea of an expression or symbolic gesture that I portray through a figure. Lately I have added an animal and a specific environment. The relationship between the figures and the environment tells a story spatially as well as emotionally.
Most of my sculptures start with a Styrofoam and wire armature. I cover it with fiberglass tape and start adding the cement. The cement is built up in different layers with a putty knife. It can be sanded or carved the first day to create a smoother texture. There are number surface treatments to choose from such as pigment, paint, shellac, wax and mosaic.
Cement has turned out to be a versatile material. Mixed with an acrylic additive and fiberglass it is stronger and more pliable than regular cement. It can be cast or added as a shell on top of an armature and the finished sculpture can be placed outdoors. It’s stone like surface compliments the primitive aspects of my work and has the resistive qualities I like in a material.
Charlottesville, Virginia, January 2007
A new year and finally another blog. I have been busy pulling work together for my show at the Artisan Center of Virginia that will happen in March in Waynesboro, Virginia. There is nothing like the momentum and surge of energy you get before a show. You become fully focused and as the date of the opening comes closer it becomes clear what you need to get done to pull the show together. All the separate pieces you have been working on for the past year or two have to be looked over and touched up, you question the validity of the work and your right to call yourself an artist and realize you have to finish one more piece to make the show work. Then you have to write a new artist statement to go with the show, up-date your CV and take pictures of your new work for publicity. At this point I can see it all coming together and I feel a sense of anticipation and excitement. I will end this blog with a copy of my new artist statement.
Artist Statement
The theme for my work is a search for unity. Integrating different materials and forms into one sculpture gives voice to the search. I usually have an initial idea of an expression or symbolic gesture that I portray through a figure. Lately I have added an animal and a specific environment. The relationship between the figures and the environment tells a story spatially as well as emotionally.
Most of my sculptures start with a Styrofoam and wire armature. I cover it with fiberglass tape and start adding the cement. The cement is built up in different layers with a putty knife. It can be sanded or carved the first day to create a smoother texture. There are number surface treatments to choose from such as pigment, paint, shellac, wax and mosaic.
Cement has turned out to be a versatile material. Mixed with an acrylic additive and fiberglass it is stronger and more pliable than regular cement. It can be cast or added as a shell on top of an armature and the finished sculpture can be placed outdoors. It’s stone like surface compliments the primitive aspects of my work and has the resistive qualities I like in a material.
Charlottesville, Virginia, January 2007
posted by Nini Bae at 9:34 AM
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