Beth Cavener Stichter
Beth Cavener Stichter addresses controversial, potentially
embarrassing subject matter head on and in direct opposition to the
reputation of her chosen medium, clay. By employing this classical
genre and emphasizing its primitive and raw characteristics, Cavener
Stichter intentionally provokes art-world prejudices. The Artist thrives in
the depiction of the provocative, blatantly contradicting the traditional
and comfortable uses of her medium and imagery. Cavener Stichter
explores child abuse, pornography, self loathing, and insecurity
through elegantly crafted goat, hare, and hound proxy. "I select
animal subjects," she says, "since the animal body is removed just
enough from my own to establish a distance, yet the personal
relationship is irresistible . . . Here, I become far enough away from
myself to unravel questions previously tangled in a self-conscious
quagmire."
Cavener Stichter cajoles the viewer into looking at the darker side of
the human condition by cloaking it in animal skin. "There are primitive
animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to
slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on
human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and
articulated through animal forms. On the surface, these figures are
simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of
tension. Beneath, they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial
desires, isolation, and pack mentality. I want to pry at those
uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human."
By manipulating the properties of clay, the Artist achieves an eloquence
of form and surface unattainable through the use of other mediums.
Despite the fluid, ethereal appearance of her completed works, the
process of construction is painstakingly delicate and time consuming.
Cavener Stichter's primary tool is her own body; she employs the human
form as a scale of relative measurement, and her muscles and mass to
carve and shape the colossal amounts of raw material necessary in her
studio practice. Working from a maquette, she creates her sculptures
from a solid block of clay, her broad, sweeping, gestural passages
leaving their energetic motion behind. She then cuts the work into small
sections, severing the limbs and torso at various points of motion. Each
slice is hollowed out and gently reworked so that the straining of the
muscle and the articulation of skin and fur are brought to life. Inch by
inch this process is repeated, each section being attached to the prior;
an exacting labor which takes months to complete. The Artist says that
she has "learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way
one holds one's hands, the tightening of muscles in the shoulders, the
incline of the head, the rhythm of a walk, and the slightest unconscious
gestures. I rely on the animal's body language in my work as a metaphor
for underlying consciousness, transforming the animal subjects into
human psychological portraits."
Cavener Stichter creates frank discussions with her viewer through
anthropomorphic sculpture and a dispassionate objectification of her
subjects. She is cognizant of the danger that the realism of her
creatures and her deliberate choice of a "Martha Stewart color palette"
can encourage: the worst kind of sentimentality. The Artist hopes that
by inducing the viewer to acknowledge their own uncomfortable darker
side, she can inspire a greater understanding of those disparities that
divide our societies today. "The figures are feral and uneasy," she says,
"expressing frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack
of understanding. Entangled in their own internal and external
struggles, my figures are engaged with the subjects of fear, apathy,
violence and powerlessness."
TEXT COURTESY OF:
Claire Oliver Gallery
513 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
Telephone: (212) 929-5949
Fax: (212) 255-4699
Info@ClaireOliver.com
Hours of Operation
Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
VIDEO BY:
O'Delle Abney, Artist / Agent
NYC GALLERY OPENINGS.COM
info@nycgalleryopenings.com
