Current Inspiring Chelsea Artist - Sculptor/Ceramicist Emma Rodgers

Using dancers as a source of inspiration, figurative sculptor Emma Rodgers had this piece in the Stricoff gallery that I fell in love with.

I found the sculpture to be riveting in its voluminous form. Both the solid parts, as well as the negative voids implied the girth, gesture and sensuality of a woman's body despite the purposely crude treatment of the tactile material. The tonalities and induction of foreign matter adds to the rich depth of the form and you're left with the desire to run your fingers over the body... very sexy.

However, when I did my annual Chelsea tour last Friday, I visited almost 20 galleries and the Stricoff Fine Art Gallery was the only gallery of the day that poo-pooed me taking pictures (with this age of free marketing and free publicity that bloggers provide both artists and galleries the reprimand seemed nescient and cretinous in nature) so heads up. I snagged this pic before I was told not to take pictures.

Emma Rodgers @ Stricoff Fine Art Gallery in Chelsea NY photo by m. diaz

I also found this fantastic video of Emma Rodgers at work. If you have any interest in Sculpture, Women Artists/Sculptors, Ceramics, Figurative sculpture or are just fascinated by creativity and you have 7 minutes to spare WATCH the female form come to life in this sculptor's hands.

Interesting & RELEVANT LINKS

• Emma Rodgers Flickr set

• I looked high n low for a website for Emma Rodgers but the site that comes up (www.emmarodgers.co.uk/) seems to be a broken link, instead this Contemporary Gallery SCA had the most extensive and prolific information on Emma Rodgers

• Video links from the Walker Art Gallery Rise of Women Artists

Emerging Artists who Caught My Eye Part II

The second artist that caught my eye during the Wesleyan Senior thesis exhibit was Nicolina Baxter. Her thesis show was entitled 'Flay' and I only got to see her in passing while she walked in the gallery at closing time to break down the exhibit.

Her sculptural forms are another aspect of my artistic tastes and motivations, that many don't know about me, since in a past life I sculpted as much as I painted! Nicolina's work is figurative yet by its very segmented state also abstracted which makes it even more intriguing. I loved the lay out, expanse and visceral feeling of the 'skin' she developed. In regards to the 'skin', I'm a sucker for clever and varied uses of materials and I'm suspecting this is an ingenious use of mold-making latex.

Nicolina Baxter's senior thesis FLAY photo by m.diaz Nicolina Baxter's thesis exhibit FLAY detail Nicolina Baxter's senior thesis Flay detail photo by m. diaz

As part of the exhibit there was also a 'voyeur box' which I've made use of in my work in the past - love them and when you looked through the peep hole you are somewhat assaulted with an up close and intimate red/orange hue of fingers moving quickly to peel back the 'skin'.

As I stated earlier I only got to see Nicolina as the gallery was closing. And since I only had a chance to say 'I really enjoyed your work' to her as I was walking out of the building, I couldn't take a photo of her besides it like I did with the others. So I managed to scoop her fb pic up - hope she doesn't mind (its a great pic anyway!)

Nicolina Baxter Pic from her FB page profile View through Nicolina Baxter's voyeur box photo by m.diaz Nicolina Baxter's senior thesis Flay detail photo by m.diaz

For all of you concerned I've had chronic bronchitis my whole life (since a child) and any cold often turns right into the bronchitis. However, since I received a flu shot this year, I managed to stave off getting any bout of bronchitis until now...I guess the vaccine wore off. NO worries, I will survive!

Now the next artist and last artist from this trip is drastically different and another real treat so stay tuned!

As for my work, its coming along (though slowly) I think I'll have to share another progress report with you soon.

I'm sad I've been neglecting my Etsy shop and crafting these days, but I can only do so much with two hands...but Oh how I wish I had more!! Ok so heres a dive from serious art connoisseur to silly question time! Yeah, I would want more hands and a ceaseless pool of energy!- SO YOUR TURN- tell me if you had a superhero power what would it be???

- Ciao Amarettogirl

Parisian Color & the D' Orsay

A while back I wrote a few posts about Color and the Absence of Color. Last night (April 10th) Gregg and I were visiting artists at Hartwick College. During his portion of the talk, Gregg recommended the COLOR book that I have recommended here on my site again. Although I have so much to say about our Hartwick talk, until I get that prepared, I remembered these Euro pics that resonate in my mind like palettes of powdered pigment.

In re-looking at this pic I was struck by the child's hand reflected in the mirror above all of the candy...I never noticed it when I actually took the picture.

Now that we have seen some color, I want to juxtapose these impregnated images with some pics from The Musee d'Orsay (my favorite Parisian museum). This 19th century art museum holds some of the most amazing paintings and sculptures I have ever seen. One of my personal favorite artist, Camille Claudel has some pieces at the D'Orsay like this one:

Camille Claudel click to see


click

There are other sculptures by other masters as well, such as the ones I have captured here. Many of the pictures I chose to take are of sculptures that relay emotions such as ecstasy and agony. Unfortunately, I can't tell you who many of them are done by.

Click to see

click to see!

The d'Orsay Clock (the bldg used to be an old rail road station) Click!!
The d'Orsay - Click!
This is a great shot of Sacre Couer (a famous art school in Paris) through another d'Orsay clock. Click to see!

I hope you enjoyed these newest pics - let me know your thoughts by clicking on the 'Post a Comment' words in the grey bar just below. My blogging will start picking up in speed again this week, since report card writing and traveling for the month is finally done! I have so much to share about our artist talk at Hartwick college, and some phenomenal and inspiring artists that I met there. I will most likely be interrupting the Europe pics to share it all with you. So please stay tuned!!