Current
Carolyn Webb - Wood, Paper, Slate
November 6 - December 7, 2019
Artist Reception: Friday, November 8: 5-7pm
Growth, renewal, and a fascination with processes that build and destroy form are the basis of my life’s work.
I credit my biologist mother who gave me a microscope when I was 6, and my chemist father who taught me to grow copper sulfate crystals from saturated solutions (cobalt blue rhomboid-like shapes appearing magically larger each day!) with providing a pathway of fascination into many fundamental mysteries of our physical world.
My original perception of the world through observation of incremental changes is expressed in my work, which is often either built over long periods of time with layers of ink in the case of prints or slow carving or laminating techniques in the case of built wooden pieces.
I see the practices of sculpture and printmaking as intertwined and complementary, as both are material and process driven. Wood, Paper and Slate have particular, distinctive qualities and hold particular tonal resonances important to me. For instance, the warm, almost soft yet strong quality of wood is quite different from the tense and varied surfaces possible in slate. Asian papers I use are chosen for their inherent translucency and ability to hold layers of ink in a glowing fashion.
I have long dreamed of presenting these sculptures and prints in conversation in my community. I was especially curious to see how my work has evolved over time; to show older works juxtaposed with current pieces and thereby reveal the spiral path my career has followed. Past artistic fascinations and forms constantly re-emerge as if there is a gravitational pull towards certain essential forms, ideas and questions present from my beginning.
Artist Bio
Williamsburg artist, Carolyn Webb is a sculptor and printmaker whose works have been exhibited widely in solo and group shows in the US and abroad and are held in corporate, academic and private collections including the Hyde Collection, the New York Public Library, and the Meditech Corporation. A temporary Public Art Project, “Two Ways of Looking at an Elm Tree”, two twenty-four foot high digital prints were installed on the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center in 2012.
Selected awards include the 2020 Boston Printmakers Guest Artist Residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, an A.R.T. Grant, a Massachusetts Artist Foundation Fellowship in Sculpture, an Artist Residency Grant from the Vermont Studio Center, and a Ford Foundation Award.
Her studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art included a Postgraduate fellowship in sculpture as well as a Scheidt Traveling scholarship. She holds an MFA in sculpture from the University of Massachusetts and is a member of the Boston Printmakers and ZeaMays Printmakers.
https://carolynwebb.net/