Lisa Osborn
Untitled (King) (detail), 2001, ceramic, steel, 96" x 15" x 15"
There is something pleasant and slightly carnal about working with the figure however dead an art form it may currently be. In attempting to make the figure more lively, abstraction seems to occur naturally and is often mistaken for Monstrous. This Monstrousness is sometimes interpreted as frightening, scary, horrible—mostly because we are rarely exposed to a figure with "imperfections." Overcoming that initial shock allows the abstractions to be seen as essential clues to the inner worlds of the figures, to be seen as emotional rather than physical anatomy.
