At first the vastness overwhelms; the colors, diversity, intricacy, and textures bedazzle. Only later does the realization set in that these fantastical crocheted coral reefs bear an urgent ecological message. Some are based on photographs, but most are pure imaginative improvisations.
Human Echo: A Conversation with Tony Matelli
Tony Matelli’s imperfect human figures and macabre self-portraits might be described as expressions of hyperrealistic angst. Over the past 15 years, he has reinterpreted the human condition through an interplay of humor and horror, a strategy best demonstrated in Total Torpor, Mad Malaise (2003).
Realizing Metaphor, Memory, and Meaning: Ganesh Gohain
Ganesh Gohain’s sculptures and paintings are very personal, very intense introspections on myth, memory, materiality, and metaphysics. Extremely deceptive with their minimal, simplified forms, these works offer complex ideations based on his life experiences and conceptual meditations.
Anonymous Exchanges: A Conversation with Shinique Smith
Shinique Smith’s sculpture, paintings, and collages reflect the belief that possessions reveal identity, create personas, and confer power. She is a student of the social totems represented by clothing and furnishings, observing how they perform along a spectrum of duty, beginning with function and ending as narrative.
Beyond the Canvas: A Conversation with Annette Lemieux
Annette Lemieux, who was raised in Torrington, Connecticut, grew up in an atmosphere of Yankee pragmatism. Though she was expected to go to secretarial school after graduating from Catholic grammar school and public high school, she elected instead to pursue a degree in the arts.
In Search of Universal Dialogue: A Conversation with Jackie Sleper
In a highly unusual mixture of schooling, Utrecht-based Jackie Sleper studied at both the College of Agriculture and Horticulture (now Wellantcollege) and the Utrecht Academy of Visual Arts. While art school honed her technical skills, “farmer’s school,” as she likes to call it, taught her about the fragility of life, the sanctity of nature, and
Kishio Suga: Stealth Objects
Looking at Kishio Suga’s work is like watching a photograph develop: it makes itself available gradually, subtly, indirectly, yielding its content slowly. It’s sculpture that flies under the radar, taking you by surprise. Suga believes that concepts exist in physical things before they’re used in an object and that the artist’s task is to reveal
Material Performance: A Conversation with Phoebe Cummings
Phoebe Cummings uses unfired clay to make poetic and performative sculptures and installations that emphasize material, fragility, time, creation, and decay. Working across art, design, and ceramics, she has had a number of residencies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Greenland, including three months as a Kohler Arts/Industry Resident (2008) and six months
Imagination in Hyper-Drive: A Conversation with Brendan Jamison
It’s rare for Irish sculptors, particularly those from Northern Ireland, to have a high profile by the time they are in their early 30s, but Brendan Jamison, seemingly without effort, has propelled himself into the limelight and is unlikely to be dislodged in the near future.
From Babylon to Third and Broadway: A Conversation with Kristi Lippire
Kristi Lippire is an artist and curator who first emerged on the Los Angeles art scene in 1997 with a solo show at California State University, Long Beach. After more than 10 years of creating photographs and paintings, she recently turned to sculpture.
