Kathy Venter

Ostraca are fragments of fired clay, valued for the information they carry. With this in mind I have produced a series of heads and upper torsos of models in the studio.

By using the model as the subject, I provide the viewer with an uncluttered reflection of self through another. The sculptures are direct and engaging, life size, a measure of our humanity. The response to each work will be as varied as our own individuality.

There is (in spite of naturalism and clear detail) a strong sense of presence and a shameless, generous invitation to ponder all aspects of form and personality.

Abstraction, which I believe to be an essential part of my own or any artwork, is introduced in the surface treatment, a casing from which the figurative forms emerge, enhanced and invigorated by this escape.

This application of cement, plaster and color, then sand blasted, refers directly to the Tanagra terracotta figurines which were painted with white slip, colored and then left to the abrasion of being buried for thousands of years. This I have translated into the personal and contemporary idiom by adding texture but maintaining the colors as we see them today. Pale blue, pink, yellow and white.

I propose that the interest in this series lies in three components, all housed together in the studio, i.e. the model, the clay and the artistic choices I have made within the tradition and development of my artistic discipline, while bringing my vision to the language of visual art.