Art & design: the art of sculpture

May 30, 10:32 PMLA Interior Decorating ExaminerLaura Hurst Brown

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Indecisive Emptiness by Carolyn Guerra 

LAID Examiner Laura Hurst Brown recently interviewed sculptor Carolyn Guerra, a California-based multi-media artist who continuously creates and discovers. Her current focus centers on concrete sculptures enhanced with found stone, shell, metal, glass objects and handmade ceramic inserts. The paradoxical themes of togetherness and opposition reoccur as in her earlier paintings and prints, revealed in the subject matter and in her choices of materials, which juxtapose the rough, matte finish of the concrete and the smooth, glossy surface of glass or glaze. Visit her at www.carolynguerra.com

Carolyn Guerra

LAIDE: How do you define your niche in the art universe today?

CG: My niche—I just play with materials and express the joy I find in the world of nature, and in the thoughts and actions of people who I admire.

LAIDE: Describe your methods in sculpting: is it a process of envisioning the completed work before you begin?

CG: Well, I envision the sculpture and plan the process, but as I work, the materials reveal new possibilities and I welcome them.

LAIDE: So do you ever find yourself in unfamiliar territory as you progress?

CG: I find myself asking new questions about the work as it takes on its own unique characteristics. Shapes that evolve later in the process are rooted in earlier decisions.

LAIDE: Can you think of an example?

CG: The most recent example would come from the first in my series of four Insulated Concrete Foam (ICF) sculptures based upon scraps that I found at the Reid and Carol Dienhart property in Bonsall. I was attracted to the angular scraps and envisioned the first sculpture expressing emptiness through a series of three holes. Later I decided to put a hole in the head between the two opposing faces, in order to express the indecision of both sides of the mind.

LAIDE: How did you come to discover the Dienhart materials? And what was the vision and process for the materials and work?

CG: The Dienharts are friends that are building an innovative home in the country—out in the midst of the avocado groves—and Reid told me there was a large scrap pile of ICF remnants. I put on leather gloves and filled my van with pieces that caught my eye. Forms that were pleasing were selected, attached to each other, reinforced with rebar and reshaped to fit the intended image. Concrete mosaic tiles, ceramic faces and fish that I created and/or glass were added to complete the intention and design. Each sculpture is a variation of a human body leaving the three holes in the ICF material exposed, and each of those contains a vacancy or items revealing the theme.

LAIDE: And what is the theme of the series?

CG: The intention that will encompass all four works is to react playfully and in a frivolous way to the disturbing realities of terrorism, political ineptness and greed, bailouts, the loss of home equity and jobs, moral decline, on and on, and so the title, Sculptural Clichés. The first sculpture, Indecisive Emptiness, offers mosaics in each hole, tiled with a variety of materials. One hole has some saying “yes,” another “maybe” and the third “no.”

LAIDE: And works two, three and four?

CG: The next three are still in progress. Work 2 is entitled Look Both Ways and features holes filled with red, yellow and green glass, with two faces on one man’s head, each looking in opposite directions. The third sculpture is Something’s Fishy Around Here. The woman’s hairdo is made of fish—and fish are swimming in each of the three ICF holes. The final work, We've All Had a Hand in It, portrays a woman’s hairdo consisting of many hands and a glass hand is in each of the three ICF openings.

LAIDE: Tell me about what you do at your studio in northern California?

CG: I belong to a co-op studio in Walnut Creek, California, that is better equipped than most colleges. I do all of my ceramic work at the Ceramic Arts Club. The faces, handmade tiles, fish, jewelry medallions and heads incorporated in this exhibition were all made there. The studio is open twenty-four hours a day and I often work late into the night.
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Dottie Jewelry by Carolyn Guerra

San Diego Visual Arts Network in collaboration with regional exhibition venues in southern California announces their “Sculptors creating Jewelry: Jewelers creating Sculpture” exhibit, in support of the Alexander Calder Jewelry Exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art, opening July 18, 2009 (through January 2010).Carolyn talks about the theme and vision of the show:

“The Arts network wishes to promote public education and foster relationships between sculptors and jewelers, and create a connection between galleries that exhibit both works. They hope to foster awareness of both the Arts network and the San Diego Museum of Art.”

For more information on this exhibit, contact Patricia Fischer, Coordinator, San Diego Visual Arts Network at 760-943-0148, admin@sdvisualarts.net and visit www.sdvisualarts.net