August 3 Silas Finch
Opening Reception 8/3 7-10pm
exhibit runs 8/3- 8/21/12
Artist Statement: Fragments. Pieces. Parts. Scraps. Objects adrift, no longer possessing a definite identity. These objects are given new identities and are reconnected to something whole. A more dramatic transformation could not be imagined, as in the hands of Silas the objects transcend their strictly utilitarian purpose and become true works of art.
Silas finds inspiration where most people would not consider looking for beauty: in junk yards, vacant lots, and alleys. He seeks to encounter what most people try to avoid, collecting what has been lost, forgotten, broken, ignored, and rejected. Silas rarely searches with a particular sculpture in mind. Rather he employs his instincts and intuition, waiting until a random object captures his eye and his imagination spontaneously envisions the sculpture he will build around it. Finding the other parts he will need to complete the sculpture “may take days, weeks, or even months." But eventually, from within the many boxes and drawers of mysterious parts that fill his studio, he is able to extract the precise assemblage to create the sculpture.
Silas does not alter the form of the individual parts by processes such as bending or welding in order to force them to fit together. Using only his hands, he prefers the process of positioning and repositioning the parts until they achieve a natural union. Such a process demands that he endure the ever present possibility of collapse, yet taking these risks is what makes the moment of connection so satisfying for the artist.
Silas builds his sculptures to experience the peace of succeeding to connect elements that do not appear to obviously go together, and to feel the excitement of breaking old patterns and inventing new ones. He builds because it “connects him to life.” Viewing his sculptures we are reminded of the multiple possibilities and potentialities of life and of the principles of rearrangement and reorganization that keep our perspectives ever fresh and changing."
artist web site
exhibit runs 8/3- 8/21/12
Artist Statement: Fragments. Pieces. Parts. Scraps. Objects adrift, no longer possessing a definite identity. These objects are given new identities and are reconnected to something whole. A more dramatic transformation could not be imagined, as in the hands of Silas the objects transcend their strictly utilitarian purpose and become true works of art.
Silas finds inspiration where most people would not consider looking for beauty: in junk yards, vacant lots, and alleys. He seeks to encounter what most people try to avoid, collecting what has been lost, forgotten, broken, ignored, and rejected. Silas rarely searches with a particular sculpture in mind. Rather he employs his instincts and intuition, waiting until a random object captures his eye and his imagination spontaneously envisions the sculpture he will build around it. Finding the other parts he will need to complete the sculpture “may take days, weeks, or even months." But eventually, from within the many boxes and drawers of mysterious parts that fill his studio, he is able to extract the precise assemblage to create the sculpture.
Silas does not alter the form of the individual parts by processes such as bending or welding in order to force them to fit together. Using only his hands, he prefers the process of positioning and repositioning the parts until they achieve a natural union. Such a process demands that he endure the ever present possibility of collapse, yet taking these risks is what makes the moment of connection so satisfying for the artist.
Silas builds his sculptures to experience the peace of succeeding to connect elements that do not appear to obviously go together, and to feel the excitement of breaking old patterns and inventing new ones. He builds because it “connects him to life.” Viewing his sculptures we are reminded of the multiple possibilities and potentialities of life and of the principles of rearrangement and reorganization that keep our perspectives ever fresh and changing."
artist web site
