2011 ARTIST'S STATEMENT
“VOS VET BLAYBN…” (What will remain..)
Each of my sculptures has a story. In pre-literate societies, sculpture
was a way to both leave a record and to transmit culture. I sculpt to capture
special moments of connectedness between people, to capture a geometric unity
of form and composition, and hopefully, to depict a warm “sheynkayt” or
spiritual beauty. My intent with figurative work is to make interior
psychological states visible.
Some 3D sculptures are based on
actual moments of human connection that I observe myself, and some are based on
photographic images. The titles all reflect a meaning to me based on the
images. I want to be as sure in my carving as I am in my drawing so I have also
been carving by incising shapes on rolled out clay and making a number of flat, Egyptian-style
incised reliefs.
As a woman as well as a
sculptor, I feel that I am one of many "guardians of memory", who
devote themselves to preserving images of the goodness and vigor of life. The
figures I have carved in the round all represent some identifiable kind of
emotion, love or grief or hope recalled. My art conveys transitory and alive
moments of human emotion - and the resilience of the figures expressing
them.
I do not know what the final piece
will look like before I start. I take what I know about proportion, balance,
symmetry, and deviation from symmetry to create new and organic forms which are
recognizable as depictions of people. It is the gesture of each composition that
has finally allowed me to invent believable human figures that are
representational, though not particularly realistic.
Carving into firm clay blocks is
direct and fast. The limits of the technique force me to find the large
movements within the figure. The result is simple, clear, and as alive as I
can leave it. All pieces could subsequently be enlarged
as well as cast in bronze or in concrete, or carved in stone. A range of color
and patina is also possible.
Economy of line, clarity,
and vitality have always been the qualities I value in art.
The use of simplified forms dependent on curve and counter curve is
meant to relate sculptural volume
to an understandeable
geometry. The unfinished working
surfaces are deliberately left to show the marks of the tools. There is both
a technical and a compositional
challenge in sculpting more than one figure and the space between them. The theme of the connection between them
is of strngth and of support, a
solidity which sometimes looks like stiffness. The moments of cutting through
the block with a wire, first horizontally and then vertically, to rough out the
initial piece, are tremendously exciting. It is also critical to stop before
the work is overdone. The goal is always emotion: with how little clay, or how
simply done, can the emotion be fully expressed. The figures are deliberately
chunky, close to and connected to the earth. Carved solid without armature,
these latest figures are literally self supporting. An element of humor in the choices of subjects and
titles. add to a sense of
liveliness. There is meant to be an intimacy for the viewer in feeling the
centeredness of the figure(s)in their own body.
2011 MERIT AWARD
LOCAL ARTIST SELECTED AND GIVEN A MERIT AWARD
The work of local artist, Joan Rudd, was selected to be
included in ART PORT TOWNSEND/EXPRESSIONS NORTHWEST, the Northwind Arts
Alliance and Port Townsend Arts Commission's 13th Annual Juried Art Exhibition.
It was held August 6-August 28, 2011 in the beautiful Seaport town of Port
Townsend, Washington.
Juror, Gary Faigin has been a full-time art professional for
over 30 years, with notable accomplishments as a painter, educator and art
critic.
Gary selected 86 pieces from 372 works of art submitted from
Washington, Alaska, Oregon and British Columbia. Merit awards were extended to 10 of the artists.
Joan Rudd's work was one of those chosen and she exhibited a
painted, terra cotta figurative sculpture, 18" x 9" X 4",
entitled "Di tfile di shtile" (The quiet prayer) for which she
received an award.
All the artwork in the show was picked because of its
combination of craft, concept and execution.
2009 ARTIST'S STATEMENT
“Bitere
hertsn zoln getreyst vern…” (May bitter hearts be comforted…)
The images
we surround ourselves with do matter. Depictions of the mother/infant bond are
iconic in Western art. Sculptural images of the “heart connections” between
interdependent adult figures are more rare, though such connections are a
psychological truth for some people
and a goal for others.
My current works generally involve two or three
sculpted figures, who literally support and hold onto each other with strength.
These serve to demonstrate through
posture and gesture a vision of
basic trust, a restoration of pride and confidence, and of hope for the
future.
The process of simplifying and abstracting body
forms and faces from life, from some pose of unity which I perceive into some
sort of a geometric unity which
others hopefully can perceive, is long rooted in sculptural traditions. It is also modernistic in scope.
Describing form primarily by using the negative
space between figures is a relatively modern form of composition. Searching for
the vitality and movement which springs from deviation from symmetry is a
trait found in much of the world’s
carving tradition, ancient Greek to modern, when depicting the human figure.
The modesty of scale of my recent work is meant to
convey charm rather than power. I start with images from life and from photos
which make me personally feel happy. I am lately carving small but massive, rooted, figures in
clay, as well as incising light and tender figurative lines into sculptural
reliefs. Both types of work follow my visual goals of economy of line, vitality,
clarity, and “sheynkeyt” (literally: beauty-fullness).
Joan
Rudd, August 2009
2008 ARTIST'S STATEMENT
"Each of my sculptures has a story. In pre-literate societies, sculpture was a way to both leave a record and to transmit culture. I sculpt to capture special moments of connectedness between people, to capture a geometric unity of form and composition, and hopefully, to depict a warm “sheynkayt” or spiritual beauty. My intent with figurative work is to make interior psychological states visible.
Some sculptures are based on actual moments of human connection that I observe myself, and some are based on photographic images. The titles all reflect a meaning to me based on the images. I want to be as sure in my carving as I am in my drawing so I have been practicing carving by incising shapes on rolled out clay.
As a woman as well as a sculptor, I feel that I am one of many "guardians of memory", who devote themselves to preserving images of the goodness and vigor of life. The figures I have carved in the round all represent some identifiable kind of emotion, love or grief or hope recalled. My art conveys transitory and alive moments of human emotion - and the resilience of the figures expressing them.
I do not know what a piece will look like before I start. I take what I know about proportion, balance, symmetry, and deviation from symmetry to create new and organic forms. It is gesture that has finally allowed me to invent believable human figures that are representational, though not particularly realistic.
Carving into firm clay blocks is direct and fast. The limits of the technique force me to find the large movements within the figure. The result is simple, clear, and alive. All pieces can be enlarged as well as cast in bronze or in concrete, or carved in stone. A range of color and patina is also possible.
Economy of line, clarity, and vitality have always been the qualities I value."
Joan Rudd, January 2008
2006 ARTIST’S STATEMENT
"Practicing drawing from live models keeps my eye looking for gesture in every movement. It is gesture which has finally allowed me to invent believable human figures which are representational, though not at all realistic.
This representational art communicates emotion directly, and was produced over the last two years. Unlike academic realism, these pieces were not begun with the end product in mind. Rather, carving tools used on damp clay resulted in abstractions of the human figure. Details are left to the imagination.
Carving into firm clay blocks is direct and fast, and is a relatively new direction for me. The limits of the technique force me to find the large movements within the figure. The result is simple, clear, and as alive as I can make it.
My choice of titles and using the Yiddish language to express them is based on a growing admiration for the sayings of my folk culture. The wry humor and boundless wisdom of the proverbs sustains me. Economy of line, clarity, and vitality have always been the qualities I strive for in my art."
Joan Rudd, May 2006