I've always been drawn to collecting things and building "things". From my collection of driftwood, rusted metal and wire I have begun to create a series of talismans - items that help us focus thoughts and actions. My first sculpture made several years ago was from a piece of smooth curving driftwood that I added a two sided head to.
Below: 3 views of two horizons - mixed media: driftwood, air dry clay head, acrylic paint (sold)
Further experiments resulted in these mixed media pieces.
bow to the blank
mixed media assemblage: driftwood, air dry clay, acrylic paint, coloured pencils
17 x 7 x 6 inches
Part of The Metchosin ArtPod WHITElight show. It invited artists to explore the colour white in all its manifestations. To look at white not only as an inclusive space on the colour spectrum, but also as a metaphor, material, and mood.
I imagined many aspects of white but the thing I kept coming back to was the blank page and the blank canvas - and how I might confront the blankness. In writing about it I riffed: White is the unknown, white is a fog curdling the mind - it demands intention. "bow to the blank" represents the fog and fear of the unknown that often precedes the creative process. The blank face cannot avoid what is rising within. From fog, a mist of cloud and attitude. Bowing to the blank, that white unknown, provides a way through.
talisman for a journey
mixed media: driftwood, air dry clay, copper, aluminum wire, waxed linen thread, pencil crayon, acrylic
16 in. high x 3 in. wide x 5 in. deep
Presented at the Metchosin ArtPod show Talisman
SOLD
Artist Statement:
The shape of a woman’s journey is a spiral ~ Sharon Blackie
I have had many talismans throughout the years - simple ones I collected like a multi-coloured stone in my pocket, a glass bead, a rusty key - each one serving a function of reminder and empowerment. "talisman for a journey" comes from my collection of thoughts and ideas, some marked and shaped on a found piece of driftwood. By adding a sculpted bird's head and spirals, the driftwood has taken on the elevated job of talisman for a journey. The bird stands in the present, in the here & now, yet it spirals, moving out of yesterday through today and into tomorrow. A journey we repeat.
talisman for remembering
assemblage of found driftwood (hoarded for years) with driftwood base, shaped and stamped copper elements, acrylic and coloured pencils
15.5 in. high x 15 in. wide x 4in. deep
We all have stories - it's what we're made of. The "talisman for remembering" was created from earth elements of wood (shaped by water) and copper (shaped by fire) - giving a winged shape to memory. Letters dangle but hang on for the journey, reminding us that we can build our memories, word by word.
This piece is part of a talisman series I'm currently working on. It nicely overlaps with my series work on memory and remembering.