The Ten Black Forms, 1998. People tend to think that they are dark, sinister or creepy. But no, they are gloomy, lively, encouraging and pushing your awareness.
The shapes of the ten black forms reference empty crab shells, yet their individual character, the surface texture, the color - a metallic black, and specific details of their actual form dynamic give them a presence apart from any evoked imagery.
Covering parts of the floor, the forms inhabit the viewer's walking-space, build up a layer of tension within a given space that keeps the visitor from any deliberate bypassing. The pieces literally reflect on the act of walking among them. The sculptural quality of the mass and density as objects is as important as their dynamic of embracing space and light. They divide the space in an above and an underneath - yet keep it open enough to include the viewer in this process.
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Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, NS Canada
10 elements, plaster, wire, graphite powder for iron cast
each app. 31" x 24" x 12" (80 x 60 x 30 cm)
Series of 4 drawings; graphite on paper; each app. 75cm x 190cm
The Ten Black Forms do reference imagery for an individual experience. The connotations that are associated with the shapes open up for specific formal relations. They rest without any definition in order to emphasize the importance of the moment of experience.
Just like "Corporeal" the scale and the shape of the forms is for a human encounter. They do have the quality of a shell, a shelter, could protect something. They echo bodily shapes, whether human or animal. They are very physical as things that interfere with your presence during the encounter. I like that they make you feel your body, let you be aware of your feet and make you move the muscles and bones of your back.
Portraits, 1999. New drawings develop. I am working with paper in a human-size format - 75cm x 180cm. The drawings consist of a head-like shape made with a thick graphite pencil in an approximate head-height, actually a little bit higher, so that you have to look up when you face them. » more
» Review "Ten Black Forms" by Cliff Eyland
» Review "Opening remarks, Ten Black Forms" by John Greer
June 2007 – Copyright Vanessa Paschakarnis
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