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Why Venus?
I was recently asked why I called my sculptures Venuses. The story goes back to the Venus of Willendorf, which is the first artwork known to mankind, estimated 30,000 yrs ago, an 11 cm high very crude sculpture of a rotund woman found in Willendorf in Lower Austria.
I was touched by its simplicity and power of expression despite the absence of detail and it inspired me to further explore the mysteries of the female body. I discovered that body positions and postures had an expressiveness beyond the details of facial expression that we normally look for. Piece by piece I went to explore the expressive tapestry of women’s physical and emotional states. Without getting lost in details, I am interested in communicating a feeling viscerally to the viewer.
What is the meaning of womanhood to me? Stereotypical perceptions of being the weaker sex are juxtaposed by stories of mothers lifting cars off their babies. There is the unspeakable pain of childbirth endured exclusively by woman only to emerge stronger and more powerful. Having passed through various stages of womanhood and their emotional and physical complexities, I am looking celebrate the female body as a manifestation of strength, resilience, and beauty. With two daughters of my own, my work references societal norms, body image and the many conflicting emotions women feel on a daily basis, advocating for self-acceptance and empowerment.
Through my art, I aim to spark conversations about identity and the perception of beauty, inviting viewers to embrace the diversity and complexity of the human experience.
All sculptures are made from a clay that I mix myself. I aim to shape the postures from life models or realistic images, trying to capture the essence of the pose in quick strokes, almost resembling 3 dimensional life-drawing. The sculptures are then bisque-fired, and treated with oxides before the final firing. Often I will apply cold-treatments, using matte medium or vanish to fixate dust particles and supply more colour. Almost all sculptures are mounted on found rocks.
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