Sue Taves
Artist’s Statement
Sculpting for me is about trying to express my ideas, thoughts and feelings in stone. I am more used to expressing these things verbally so creating sculpture has been like learning another language. It’s a visual language. I ask myself “what would this feeling look like?” or “how do I represent this concept in a physical form”? It’s an opportunity to look at the world differently or explore a relationship.
What makes a mountain recognizable? Is it still a mountain when it is small? What does a promise look like? How do these things change or stay the same when you put them into stone?
My process for sculpting varies, sometimes I have an image in mind and I find the stone to match and work until the image appears. Other times, I find a stone and I work directly with it with no preconceived idea of what it will be. There are times that I work out an idea by using models in clay before I ever find the stone. But in all of these cases, I am trying to create a visual picture for something that is different than how we have seen or imagined it before.
The more I practice this new language, the more discoveries I make. Words come more easily now and conversations flow. This process is like a journey into a new land. I hope you enjoy the results of these conversations and I invite you to have a dialog of your own.