Did you know that when I carved this form, I was thinking of a long eared rabbit bounding away? In Japan when children look at a full moon, they do not see “the man in the moon.” They see a rabbit pounding o-mochi (sweet rice). Rabbits are a popular design motif in Japanese printed textiles and paper goods. I especially love the images depicting playful scenes of rabbits holding bow and arrows or long grasses and chasing each other and other animals.
Available through www.browngrotta.com

Pods, Seeds & Pollen: Stonecrop; Detail

I have already begun my next in the series.

Djibouti Markets; Detail

It was quite exciting to be contacted by the State Department’s Art in Embassies program. I had several commissions from their Foreign Buildings office (now under the umbrella of A in E) in the 1990’s, but nothing since. “Red Jars at Midnight” is now residing at the US Embassy in Laos on loan for two years.

As 2010 begins, I find myself very excited to continue with this higher density foam. Glacial Planes (top left) was my first successful sculpture using this new material. The edges and curves were more easily maintained and the textured areas are more significant as a result. I have been studying seed pods and feel inspired to start some groupings of smaller pieces that can be “scattered” together. I hope to have the first completed in time for SOFA/NY. Also, one of my work tables in the studio is covered with Japanese boxes and a large selection of small lids, some made by my ceramicist friend, Betsy Williams. I have been making doodles in my studio log, and I think I will be working on these pieces as well. I often like to work on varied projects that are on different scales and with different inspirations. With so much to do, perhaps I’ll get through my boxed set of Philip Glass CD’s.

I have found the new series of carved forms so satisfying to twine over, that much of my studio time in 2009 will be devoted to continuing that series. I recently received a shipment of a higher density foam and had to cut it with a chain saw into more usable units! This foam holds a crisp edge more cleanly than the previous foam, and I hope to create a new sculptural grouping that takes advantage of this potential while still twining with waxed linen and cotton. Look for them at SOFA/New York SOFA/Chicago.

A few years ago, I took a big leap and started a new series of forms that were based not upon volume, but upon mass. Carving industrial foam and covering it with acrylic gesso offered me an entirely new approach for my twined sculptures.

Many of us working in the area of "sculptural basketry" work in series, one piece inspiring the next. Some of my series were inspired by a great purchase of handmade papers in India. Some of my series were developed to support the theme of an invitational exhibition… Japanese influences, communication, censorship. However, some of my favorite work is the direct result of time in Japan. Both "Pebbles in a Stream" and "At Water's Edge" are my most recent, personal interpretation of the jakago/snake baskets seen in Asia. In Japan, miniature versions hold five tiny pebbles and are used to support chopsticks at the dinner table. The largest versions are constructed with wide bands of bamboo binding large stones at the edge of a river or lake to prevent soil erosion. I found the entire range of these constructions inspirational and a number of baskets have resulted.