Christopher Gowell
Exhibition: Human Nature | September 19 - October 24th, 2015
Wistful, bronze, 20 x 6 x 5 in
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I’m a figure sculptor whose work is concerned with the beauty and challenge of sculpting the vulnerable nude. My pieces range from simple figures and portraits, to work that is detailed and eclectic, drawing on medieval, classical, and baroque traditions to integrate fantasy, narrative, and symbolic mythology.
My personal artistic quest is to become the best figure sculptor in terms of technical expertise and anatomical knowledge, and to imbue my work with mystery, passion, and magic. As a symbolist, I desire the exterior form to convey something more than the intrinsic beauty of the sculpted nude -- perhaps creating a psychological and archetypal imagery. When I was a child I was sure I’d grow up to write and illustrate fairy tales. Now, like a goddess, I wish to create my own mysterious “magic realist” world, peopled with alchemic creatures.
I usually work directly in clay, casting in bronze or cement, enhancing form with color patinas. My pieces range in scale from life size to miniature -- from free-standing three-dimensional forms to reliefs. I create fine arts sculpture for galleries and work on commissions. I have two large- scale privately funded bronze commissions to my credit. One, “Notre Dame de la Renaissance Francaise” is a six foot 1870’s millworker and son, installed on the canal to commemorate Nashua’s Franco American heritage and the other is a 7’x8’ firemen memorial relief for the Manchester, New Hampshire Fire Department.
ARTIST BIO:
Christopher Gowell's art education began as a child at Munson Williams Proctor Institute, a museum school in Utica, New York. She then attended Syracuse University for two years, taking sculpture classes at the Corcoran School of Art and George Washington University, and completed her undergraduate degree (Summa Cum Laude) at the University of New Hampshire in 1974. She completed her MFA from Boston University in 1977 working as a graduate assistant in figure sculpture. She is now the director of Sanctuary Arts, an artists' residential and studio community with a "skill based" art school and bronze casting teaching foundry in Eliot, Maine.
I’m a figure sculptor whose work is concerned with the beauty and challenge of sculpting the vulnerable nude. My pieces range from simple figures and portraits, to work that is detailed and eclectic, drawing on medieval, classical, and baroque traditions to integrate fantasy, narrative, and symbolic mythology.
My personal artistic quest is to become the best figure sculptor in terms of technical expertise and anatomical knowledge, and to imbue my work with mystery, passion, and magic. As a symbolist, I desire the exterior form to convey something more than the intrinsic beauty of the sculpted nude -- perhaps creating a psychological and archetypal imagery. When I was a child I was sure I’d grow up to write and illustrate fairy tales. Now, like a goddess, I wish to create my own mysterious “magic realist” world, peopled with alchemic creatures.
I usually work directly in clay, casting in bronze or cement, enhancing form with color patinas. My pieces range in scale from life size to miniature -- from free-standing three-dimensional forms to reliefs. I create fine arts sculpture for galleries and work on commissions. I have two large- scale privately funded bronze commissions to my credit. One, “Notre Dame de la Renaissance Francaise” is a six foot 1870’s millworker and son, installed on the canal to commemorate Nashua’s Franco American heritage and the other is a 7’x8’ firemen memorial relief for the Manchester, New Hampshire Fire Department.
ARTIST BIO:
Christopher Gowell's art education began as a child at Munson Williams Proctor Institute, a museum school in Utica, New York. She then attended Syracuse University for two years, taking sculpture classes at the Corcoran School of Art and George Washington University, and completed her undergraduate degree (Summa Cum Laude) at the University of New Hampshire in 1974. She completed her MFA from Boston University in 1977 working as a graduate assistant in figure sculpture. She is now the director of Sanctuary Arts, an artists' residential and studio community with a "skill based" art school and bronze casting teaching foundry in Eliot, Maine.
