|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adrian Arleo New Works |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PRESS RELEASE
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Arleo’s studio and the pieces she creates there, straddle the natural world and the world that man has constructed. Nature is invited in. The window sills are filled with treasures found on her property in rural Lolo, Montana situated at the base of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness with Lolo Creek running through. Swallows nest in the eaves, her horse sneaks a look in the window of the studio, and a mouse is not considered an unwelcome intruder. The collection further contains beehives, honeycombs, abandoned birds nests, stones, twigs, shells and other bits of nature brought in for closer inspection and continuous inspiration. Arleo claims her studio to be “a kind of living structure.” The subject’s may change with each piece carefully and skillfully crafted of clay by Arleo, but the underlying concepts remain consistently investigating the delicate intersection between nature and humans. The pieces are in a constant state of metamorphosis. The viewer is reminded that we and our surroundings are always in a state of change. “Glade” contains a seated woman made of a delicious honeycombed texture covered with an encaustic mixture of natural beeswax and dammar varnish. Arelo explains “I enjoy the way beeswax adds the feel and fragrance of the natural material I’m referencing. Here in Montana, I drive daily down a road that has honeybee boxes in the meadows, surrounded by trees. In the evenings, deer come out in the same glades to graze near the boxes as the bees keep swarming out to seek the wildflowers and mock orange. In “Glade” this scene becomes one glorious moment in time with a tender young woman at the center. The “Apiary Twins” is classical in feel and contains a personal reference. One of Arleo’s two daughters is leaving for college and the younger is remaining behind for her turn. Arelo describes “They are back to back – still joined – but headed in opposite directions, on their own trajectories.”
|
Arleo is exploring the profound concept of Inside/Outside in several pieces, stating she is fascinated by “the glimpses we get into what is normally unseeable and mysterious.” She created “Janus” in January, 2010, thinking about the concept of Janus as the Roman God of beginnings, and the fact that a single figure can look both forward and back. Beginning a new year brings associations of possibilities, a fresh start. “The inside baby represents this vulnerable, blank slate feeling.” The Lions continue the concept of mysterious glimpses of the interior. As with “Janus” the viewer must devote time to find the interior figure and then try to interpret what has been seen. As with human relationships, we are never able to fully see the interior and must rely on our own interpretations of much interaction. Arleo: “at another level the lions are a continuation of the running narrative in all my work, that everything is connected, that there is no 'Other', that we are made of the same substances and all dependent upon the same elemental forces.” The deer “Matrimony” is in contrast to the lions that are the most common archetype for strength, pride and masculinity, Deer are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection. Arleo states: “the deer feels like a gentle reliquary for the two inner figures, a peaceful container for their relationship. This exterior housing protects what’s inside not in a watch-dog way, but in a soft nurturing way, comparable to the way a pregnant woman contains and sustains the life inside herself simply 'by nature' without effort or thought." Arleo’s work has always been and continues to be richly narrative, deeply suggesting a psychological and emotional world. The personal is present but not ever obvious. Arleo’s interior world is complex and rich, inviting the viewer to become part of it on their own terms, through their eyes. Adrian Arleo’s sculpture is exhibited internationally, and is in numerous public and private collections, including The World Ceramic Exposition Foundation, Icheon, Korea; The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia; The Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; Yellowstone Art, Billings, MT; Microsoft, Seattle, WA; Greenwich House Pottery, NYC, NY; Gloria and Sonny Kamm Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT; Ruth Kohler, Kohler, WI; and Candace Groot, Chicago, IL.
Click on the images to see available artworks
If you cannot see the image please click this link
|
|
||||||
|
|||||||||
Note: To properly view this email click here or on Click Here button at the top |
|||||||||
