My final presentation at Anderson Ranch this week was really minimal and simplified. I narrowed down my concept so that the work would be more specific, yet also more open-ended.
I wrote up a mission statement to describe what I wanted my work this week to be about. It all boils down to this:
My work is about the material body plus the mental/emotional space that partners with physical embodied experience. It has a voice that is powerful but not aggressive.
I had worked all week trying to do too much within each individual piece I was making (especially the Stuffed Blue Heart). I wanted to strip away any extraneous visual information and leave only the essence of the physical/emotional experience in the heart center.
Each piece spills out from the wall at about chest-height, and is about 6x6 inches square.
I have about 1,000 ideas on ways to expand and build on this concept. I never thought about doing sculpture before now, and suddenly it’s all I can think about!
I hope I will be able to attend many more Critique Workshops at Anderson Ranch in the future. This was an amazing experience that has changed my work forever.