Harriete Estel Berman http://www.harriete-estel-berman.info/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nice and Easy Even if Your Marriage Doesn’t Last Your Color Will, Clairol Ad from the series The Deceiver and The Deceived 1997-98 Pre-printed, recycled steel containers, cut, folded, and riveted together 13.75” x 18” x 1.75” $3500 Photo Credit: Philip Cohen Nice and Easy - detail MY AMERICAN KITCHEN SAVES ME TWO HOURS A DAY TO KEEP MYSELF LOOKING YOUNG 1991 12" x 12" x 12 Printed steel; folded, fabricated using "Broken Dishes" quilt pattern. Fabricated curtain from printed steel. Kitchen clock, broken dishes inside pedestal Photo: Philip Cohen $5,750 MY AMERICAN KITCHEN SAVES ME TWO HOURS A DAY TO KEEP MYSELF LOOKING YOUNG, blowup |
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
ARTIST STATEMENT In the series, A Pedestal for a Woman to Stand On, the minimal cube shape is a self-imposed restriction representing a formal sculptural approach. It also represents my home and the "building blocks" of quilt patterns. Steel toy houses used as raw material are deconstructed, cut, folded, and riveted together. These pieces of a "home" are an effort to reconstruct my life. They symbolize both autobiographical content and the complexity of women's lives in today's society. Quilts were historically one of the few creative outlets for women in our culture. The traditional quilt patters contribute to the content of each "pedestal"... log cabin, courthouse steps, baby block. These "pedestals" are structurally unable to support any weight. In part, they address the difficulty in raising a family in a society that no longer values these maternal roles. More recent work related to this series is a large scale wall quilt constructed from hundreds of triangular-folded sheets of recycled tin. Cut with pinking shears, sharp points, frayed at the edges, this quilt is as paintful as reality. The pieces actually fit together perfectly, but, in fact, are pulling apart. Much like every day life, the best laid plans become disrupted and don't quite fit together as one hoped or expected. The colors, patterns, words and images are carefully chosen using recycled "tin" containers from consumer packaging. The words printed on the materials reinforce the primary themes of each piece. The images found on recycled material reveal the values of our society. |
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