Armed in Gold

A really unique example of a reliquary, where the part of the Saint's body is created in gold and then stored...early conceptual abstraction, fusing two different ideas, visually, in the name of the greater conceptual good...

The arm bone is stored inside the arm and can be viewed through the lattice patterning...a beautiful piece, the hand is interestingly covered in jewels, not patterned but asymmetrical, reinforcing the abstract stance...the base functions not only as a visual ground, but a house of God, with it's most important relic rising out.

Golden BEAUTY

Another beautiful reliquary...the gilded structure and the miniaturized context, alluding to something big and ritualistic...I can't help but wonder, which I have many times before, will we ever as a society, get behind something some magnificent and culturally relevant.

Have those things that cost so much and made such a mark on our creative consciousness been eliminated from our visual vernacular...I hope not, but I am loosing hope...

Quiet reliquary

A nice, simple zen like example of a reliquary by Novie Trump...this work in clay explores a focused look at a spiritual subject matter...the context is textured with expressive marks surrounding the recess where the scroll and egg form lie.

Neutral grays and tans dominate the piece, providing a timeless backdrop to conceptual contemplations...the shape references, reliquaries, monstrances and the familiar arch form in so many religious icons, but because of the abstraction, it whispers significance and doesn't have to beat you over the head with it's presence. I appreciate the tone of the piece and its effective use of minimal, visual expression.

Interesting cast of characters

Nice collage based environment by Alexis Mackenzie, built off of a natural context, this work moves us visually and conceptually into a unique world of unexplored relationships, the organic, the mythological, the unreasonable and the absurd...

The symbols are clean and graphical in representation...the overall appearance and consistency in how each image is rendered allows us to visually group the individual elements and consider the piece a whole...the space between the images is also considered and interesting, playing with negative space in a simplistic way.

These boxes contain many things!

I have been fascinated for a long time by these beautiful objects...Japanese Inro first caught my eye in the Field Museum of Chicago...there was a show of several of these objects. Decorative objects have always intrigued me, they formally are sound, using the language of sculpture to convey ideas and carry, in this case, a narrative message...discussing historical details, or mythical beasts...the parts are meant to "fit" together, both literally and metaphorically...each part referencing the story existing in the body of the form.

In my own work, I think about the notion of function, the idea of participating with art is very exciting and on some level, insidious...tieing parts of society closer through touching and feeling art...I believe the separation, artists and galleries sometimes promote, only alienates the public from those creative instincts...it makes the "non-artist" feel they could never do those kinds of works, thus negating an essential and vital part of their inner being.