| The Delta Series |
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| Installation view of Diana's Shaft (for Xie), Ceres' Favor (for KP), and Juno's Press 2002 Three wall-mounted sculptures, 9in each edge each Collection of the artist. |
| I work with cedar because it is a very sensual wood. In addition to its famous odor, cedar is unique for its softness and the colors in which it appears, both of which evoke memories of human skin. Before the wood is oiled, it exhibits a range of hues, including pinkish golds, olive tones and even very dark browns. I use fabric in my work because it is familiar to me and has long been of particular significance to the work of women. |
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| This series of work comes out of a confluence of numerous associations with the triangle. Each of these meanings is significant and distinct, though some of them are intertwined. The series, then, is united in a formal sense and in terms of materials, but the meanings constructed from these elements vary from piece to piece. Many folks who have taken chemistry or math courses will recognize that the Greek letter Delta is a triangle and represents the Change in a value in an equation. Change, as they say, is a constant in life, but I have been particularly aware of it lately, and it has a strong influence on this work. |
| Neptune's Folly 2002 Wall-mounted sculpture; mixed media 27in each edge Collection of the artist |
| The triangle also evokes associations with Fertility and Flow. In addition to being a Greek letter and symbol of Change, "delta" refers to the extraordinarily fertile triangle-shaped land at the mouth of a river. Another symbol of fertility--female genitalia--can be represented by an inverted triangle. Like water flowing into oceans, women's rechest blood flows through this delta into the larger world. With this new work, I have been considering the different ways in which women are fertile, producing and nurturing life, ideas, businesses, learning, relationships, music, art. Finally, during the Second World War, an inverted pink triangle was worn in concentration camps to brand homosexuals. Although this shape has been reclaimed as a symbol of pride and to mark safe spaces for queers, prejudice and hate still threaten members of vitually every race, ethnicity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in palpable ways today. This needs to change. "An attack on one is an attack on all." |
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| Ceres' Favor (for KP) 2002 Sculpture; mixed media 9in each edge Collection of the artist. |
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| Juno's Press 2002 Wall-mounted sculpture; mixed media 9in each edge Collection of the artist. |
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| Diana's Shaft (for Xie) 2002 Wall-mounted sculpture; mixed media 9 in each edge Collection of the artist. |
| table of contents -- guestbook -- email me drawing -- painting -- photography -- sculpture -- web-based art -- with students All text and images � 2002 Sarah Joy Liles |