About "The Accolade Suite"
This recent body of work began as a proposal for a competitive commission. Seven pieces were to be produced as awards for
community arts leaders. I did not get the commission but decided to produce the work anyway. Thus the title: an accolade was
originally part of the ceremony for conferring knighthood or in this context, a high honor.
Their quadrant symmetry and large central motif (usually sporting a glass door knob) reference the star shapes and medallions
often seen in medals and badges of rank. Their standardized format provide unity----and a jump start in the studio--while the variety of
colors, textures, surfaces and doo-dads provide variety. I originally planned to install the nine asssemblages together in a large
checker board diamond shape that would have been over seven feet high but decided to exhibit them separately in the Stocksdale
Gallery exhibition (March 2012).
Jouissance is the most pertinent idea for me in the canon of post-modernism. It is French for pleasure or enjoyment and rhymes with
Provence. Finding some theoretical justification for the over the top decorative self-endulgence of my artwork was most welcome.
"The Accolade Suite" and related works are celebrational; although the recipients of these accolades are imaginary,
the celebration is about the joy of making art. Louise Nevelson, that great American assemblage sculptor said, "In my studio I am as
happy as a cow in her stall." And so am I. Jouissance!
This recent body of work began as a proposal for a competitive commission. Seven pieces were to be produced as awards for
community arts leaders. I did not get the commission but decided to produce the work anyway. Thus the title: an accolade was
originally part of the ceremony for conferring knighthood or in this context, a high honor.
Their quadrant symmetry and large central motif (usually sporting a glass door knob) reference the star shapes and medallions
often seen in medals and badges of rank. Their standardized format provide unity----and a jump start in the studio--while the variety of
colors, textures, surfaces and doo-dads provide variety. I originally planned to install the nine asssemblages together in a large
checker board diamond shape that would have been over seven feet high but decided to exhibit them separately in the Stocksdale
Gallery exhibition (March 2012).
Jouissance is the most pertinent idea for me in the canon of post-modernism. It is French for pleasure or enjoyment and rhymes with
Provence. Finding some theoretical justification for the over the top decorative self-endulgence of my artwork was most welcome.
"The Accolade Suite" and related works are celebrational; although the recipients of these accolades are imaginary,
the celebration is about the joy of making art. Louise Nevelson, that great American assemblage sculptor said, "In my studio I am as
happy as a cow in her stall." And so am I. Jouissance!
