About Maggie's Art

​

Artists Statement                              

 

The substance and malleability of clay fascinates me. Whether realism, semi-abstract, or abstract, the form emerges as I shape the lines and planes; flow, motion, straight, curved, and diagonal, all come to translate into substance under my hand.

My work captures the essence and dynamics of organic subjects. For instance, to define, in a semi-abstract form, the dramatic stance of a horse in a gale force wind, with gestural nuance, captivates me. I’m a minimalist in most of my work. My process is to look at key lines and planes in a composition, whether in my mind or with my eye, and translate the emotion and story into simple solid form.

 

When I was very young my mother, an artist and teacher, would set me up outside our desert cabin door, in the sand, with everything I needed to play and sculpt; two aluminum pots, a big serving spoon, and the hose dribbling water. I would make castles, shapes and sculptures for hours. Later, she gave me a Sumi-e brush painting set. Sumi-e, the ancient Japanese art, is one of minimalism, practiced expression using as few strokes to represent the essence of the form. This trained my eye to see key lines and motion in a subject, and that less is more. It taught me to loosen up, and paint flowing lines, and gave me the confidence to paint large works. As my own unique style of sculpting has continued to evolve and emerge, I realize these experiences have greatly contributed to, and helped form my process.

 

When sculpting I am in another world, an altered state, a meditation. Each piece pulls me into it, and compels me to find its true expression. When I was seventeen I wrote in one of my poems, “Separate the statue from the stone”, meaning, allow the piece to emerge, it’s already there, I just have to find it and free it. In this, I am learning to listen and really look, as the piece is manifesting.

I had never heard the famous quotes from Michelangelo; “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free“, and, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”.

Though I sculpt in clay, rather than the reductive art of sculpting in stone, I feel the same.