Sunday, December 19, 2010

Cincinnati art 1

I had a little expedition yesterday to Cincinnati, where we visited the Art Museum.  Can't recall how many times I have been to this great place but I always head straight for the modern art rooms and am always thrilled to revisit the same wonderful pieces. 

The first work of art you encounter is Lace Mountains, a huge wood piece by Ursula von Rydingsvard, whose main sculpture tool is a chain saw.  If you look at the detail shot, you can see how dramatically the surface has been indented and chopped to bits.  But if you stand back and look at it head-on, the 3-D effect almost disappears.

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Lace Mountains, 1989 (detail)

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Lace Mountains, 1989

I was visiting the museum with two friends, Marti Plager and Sandy Ciolino, both of whom have extensively used the fractured piecing technique I wrote about last week. Sandy pointed out that the distance view of Lace Mountains looked a lot like a quilt made with fractured piecing, and she was right!

Sandy Ciolino, Homage to Herbert, detail

What an unexpected moment of discovery, and what a treat to have it in the company of people who are so closely associated in my mind with this nifty technique.

3 comments:

  1. This is a fabulous piece. Thanks for showing here.

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  2. I'm scared of chainsaws, and besides I want to work smaller. But, oh, that makes me want to make things!

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  3. Hi, Kathleen:



    I"m a quilter, visual artist who works with a circular saw! (what UVR uses) and I"m an intern in Ursula's studio. She's a wonderful person, massively terrific woman, and artist.

    Circular saws; not chainsaws.



    Now it makes sense: her sculpture is is is very quilt-like. the blocks, the chunks, like the chunks in a quilt. Your friend's assessment is right on the $$$$.

    thxkatrina@netzero.net

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