CRAFT OF MAINE-June 2010

by Susan Grisanti Kelley

Four galleries, four artists, hence Four in Maine

 

Kazumi HoshinoLast year the Farnsworth Art Museum began a series of annual exhibitions called Four in Maine. The concept: to devote a show each year to the work of four contemporary artists working in Maine and exhibit their work in each of the four galleries at the museum. “The format offers us all kinds of flexibility in choosing the subject or theme of the show,” says curator Michael Komenecky, “and allows us to seek out work we think exemplifies the creativity of the state’s many artists.”
This year’s show focuses on sculpture—with four sculptors creating site-specific works inside and outside the museum. The works of Kazumi Hoshino, Jesse Salisbury, Warren Seelig, and Aaron T Stephan can be seen from now until December 31.

Kazumi Hoshino

The series Composition comes from combining simple forms, the circle we can see by observing nature and life. It evokes motherhood with its encircling shape. Its form is soft, enfolding, and unending. There is no beginning or end. There is harmony. It is a peaceful image. With ‘Kosei,’ by combining this simple form I hope to enhance the perception of these pleasing qualities. To me these ‘compositions’ seem to hint of some potential memory or whisper an unremembered experience. I want my sculptures to be a medium to stimulate the image of a warm and pleasing experience.’

Kazumi Hoshino, Composition  (?? Kosei), 2010, Jonesboro granite, basalt, 36” x 33” x 31” (above)
Kazumi Hoshino, Composition 2  (?? Kosei 2), 2010 Sullivan granite, basalt 26” x 36” x 20” (above)

For more Kazumi Hoshino: courthousegallery.com

 

 

Jesse Salisbury

Link, 2010, Sullivan granite, 7’ x 9’ x 7’

Anatomy of a Boulder was created by splitting a granite glacial boulder more then 500 times into 50 pieces that were then reassembled like a puzzle. For me it is about studying the natural potential for movement within granite. Stone peels apart and divides up over millions of years and eventually becomes individual crystals of sand. By leaving the outside form of the boulder intact and by shaping it only by splitting we see its identity as a boulder and the many ways that nature can peel the stone apart over time. It also shows how a stone can be manipulated with simple tools and technique. The splitting tools I use are similar to the tools used in ancient Egypt. Since our modern society no longer makes these tools I forge them at my studio out of recycled steel. The splits were made by carving only one inch into the stone.
Link was a big experiment to see if it is possible to split a stone in two places at the same time and create an interlocking form. After splitting the forms apart the two identical forms are moved around each other without touching. The result is a puzzle for the viewer to figure out how the interlocking forms were created and moved.”

For more Jesse Salisbury: jessesalisbury.com, courthousegallery.com

 

Warren Seelig

Oculus, 2010

My work employs light and shadow so that the tangible object becomes secondary to the reflection of light, with the shadow becoming another substance within the work. The result has been the creation of atmospheres or fields of reality and illusion, seen through an expanse of randomly accumulated shadow. Oculus also involves light, this time with the way fine strands of transparent blue monofilament absorb and transmit light coming from the windows above. The result is an illusive and ever-changing pattern field of light projected onto the radial matrix of nylon threads from morning to night.”

For more Warren Seelig: warrenseelig.com

 

 

Aaron T Stephan, 30 Columns, 2010, Mixed media, 15’ x 50’

In The Hunchback of Notre Dame Victor Hugo writes: ‘Architecture began like writing. It was first an alphabet. A stone was planted upright to be a letter and each letter became a hieroglyph. And on every hieroglyph there rested a group of ideas, like the capital of a column.’ 30 Columns stands as a narrative within the same parameters. As a text, or a book, its individual components conspire to tell a story. The column carries a potent history that tells of the tie between the part and the whole, the macrocosm and the microcosm, and the power of the individual and the synergy of the group.”

For more Aaron T Stephan: aarontstephan.com, whitneyartworks.com