Barks

Aspen Bark
Range to 6 feet H, dimensions variable
Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
1999

(Click on photo to see LARGE image)

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Laurie Polster

Abstractions inherent in both nature and the human body carry encoded information that transcends specificity. My interest lies in the precarious and restful states of stillness and balance, where the extraneous is shed and elements are left to their essential being.

My work across media addresses issues relating to culture, memory, natural phenomenon, and representation. I am exploring edges as well as the less apparent spaces in between, shedding light on critical linkages in the human, socio-political and eco-systems. I am drawn to issues surrounding container and containment—what is included and given space to resonate, and what is excluded and rendered voice-less. Through juxtaposition and dichotomy, my work forces divergent ways of looking at common occurrence, at image and language, creating connections that lead to awareness.

Installation projects include:

• The Line of Questioning: trees as a metaphor for ecological and social sustainability (Addison Street Windows Gallery, Berkeley, CA 2008)
• Vessels: an intersection of the natural and constructed world (SJICA, San Jose, CA 2005)
• Fossil Topographies: refers to the idea of unearthed fossilized remains—bits of history and incomplete memory—embedded within precisely excavated sections of terrain. (Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, N.J. 2004)
• The Falling: explores the relationship of an avalanche to a waterfall and the duality and dichotomy of destruction and regeneration in natural occurrence (Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA 1999)
• Spoons: references the relationship of objects to memory, experience and culture (Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1994)
• Reflections in Stone: evolved from an ongoing investigation into the symbolic nature of water (Pro Arts, Oakland, CA 1994)
• In Search of My Grandmother’s Bread Bowl: a search for history and identity, and the isolation and essence of moments. (Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, 1993)