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The Personal Side of Judy
Cushman
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Kathy Venter, Artist Kathy and Deon Venter c/o dkventer@gmail.com Salt Spring, Island, BC, Canada, studio phone: 250 537 4749
Here and Here: Terra Cotta Art from Kathy Venter's new series "ONE." "In Here and Here, we see the model seated in a wooden chair, staring directly ahead. An unexpected clump of textured, yellow pigmented white hydro-stone clings to her shoulder, as if she has just immerged from a pool of quicksand, the smooth terracotta revealing itself, waiting to be washed clean." My husband and I enjoy boating and for years, have traveled to an artist’s enclave on Salt Spring Island in Canada. In the town of Ganges, we have discovered wonderful friends and art that we have grown to love. I sometimes call our house the Salt Spring Gallery in Washington. In a moment of creative inspiration, my husband discovered a unique place for a life sized Terra Cotta figure sculpted by an artist that we have come to call our friend. She and her husband are incredibly gifted and work in different media. Kathy Venter has received recognition both here and throughout Canada. Her husband, Deon Venter, produces major works in arresting, massive paintings. A recent show in Montreal about the last supper was sold out in a matter of days and his work is riveting. His recent work is about the Pig Farm murders in Canada. One of Kathy’s Terra Cotta figures hangs suspended from our ceiling at the entrance to our home. It was the first installation of its kind and as soon as she realized she could do this with her work, she immediately began hanging all of her figures in space. Our sculpture was part of her, “Immersion Series,” where the figures are swimming and she captures their mood in the act of reflection. She has now developed a new series called, “One” and images from that exhibit are posted. For the work in our home, we have images of the drama during the installation and the final result. Kathy and Deon do not have a website and hopefully, they will soon take the time from their busy lives to develop one and introduce us to the true scope of their work. From Kathy Venter:
The sculptures are made from studies of my models underwater. Water refers to another dimension, an altered state of consciousness - the spiritual. Figures in water react differently to sound, light, gravity and movement. The human experience under water is cocoon-like - as if transformed back to the womb and in a private world of its own. The sharpened intent is on the diminished effect of gravity on the figure, the free movement of the limbs and the evidence of the pressure of the surrounding water on clothing, hair and face. (left: Immersion 11, terra cotta sculpture) Suspended by cables in space, the sculptures are experienced by the viewer from all angles - including underneath - freeing the work from its traditional pedestal, form, mass and weight.
Immersion 8, terra cotta sculpture Solo Exhibitions
2007 Sculpturesite
Gallery, San Francisco, CA Group Exhibitions
2007 "Kathy Venter and
Mike Moran," A New Leaf Gallery, Sonoma, CA Selected Public and Private Collections
South African National
Gallery, Pretoria Education
1980 M.F.A. Sculpture,
Port Elizabeth School of Art and Design, Cape Province, South Africa
Suspended Between Two Points 2, Lifesize bust in terra cotta, white and grey
From Kathy's "ONE" series.
From Kathy's "ONE" series.
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In
the Immersion Series I have developed the combination of traditional
material with complete freedom of composition, altered viewing points,
diminished force of gravity and an alternate elemental influence - that of
water. 
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Copyright © 2007 JJG&R Communications Services, Inc. |