Stephanie
Lowe
"I was once a storyteller
and in the process of becoming an artist, I became a listener,"
says Stephanie Lowe. This writer-turned-sculptor molds visual
parables on certain passages of life, the vanity of beauty, and
the fragility of being human. She accomplishes this with subtitles
of color, multiple firings, and the creation of strange and sometimes
offbeat creations in hardened clay.
Fantastic worlds
and odd characters inhabit a story-world skewed. Her creations
are super-realistic representations rather than abstract forms,
tempered by dream-like imagery. They are narrative, oddly beautiful,
and yet enigmatic objects and personalities that often take you
aback but always make you think.
In her latest featured
showing, "Art
Floats on Masked Winged Dreams" at RaZoo GaLLery, Lowe expands upon the poetic
possibilities when art and imagination connect to form a visual
narrative. Sometimes, as in "American Gargoyle" these
dreams take the form of an extraordinary winged creature perched
atop a simple roof ridge. The creature is masked, but to what
purpose? Other times, the female protagonist is ordinary and all
too familiar, as in "Beehive" where a towering coiffure
of anguished torsos barely hides the emerging man that occupies
milady's topmost thoughts. In both cases, the artist sets a cryptic
scenario that begs translation but provides the viewer a number
of abstract keys.
Stephanie begins
the long process for each of her narrative portraits in the same
manner. She first forms the sculpture by hand, building up layers
of clay slips between several firings. During the course of creation,
individual personas emerge to "speak" for themselves,
suggesting the direction the artist should take.
When the soft glazed
sculpture is hard finished, the viewer completes the enigmatic
tale, filling in the details of the tale. In doing so, the artist
believe that each one brings a part of "their own story"
into the equation.
Born in Tarrytown,
New York, Stephanie Lowe worked as a freelance writer in Orlando
when she first discovered the possibilities of clay. She entered
the University of Central Florida and earned a Bachelors of Fine
Arts there in 2000. In 2002, Lowe received a commission to create
murals at Marriott Brighton Gardens. Deerfield Beach, Florida.
She has since continued her art education with an ambitious body
of work projects, as well as painting workshops with figurative
painter Barbara Wasserman and ceramic workshops presented by artists
such as Debra Fritts. When she is not conducing ongoing art classes
at the Broward Art Guild, Lowe works full-time in her studio located
in Oakland Park, Florida.
Gargoyle Click to enlarge
photo's
Beehive
Beauty
"Art
Floats on Masked Winged Dreams"
Sculptural
Narratives by Stephanie Lowe runs October 1 -December at RaZoo GaLLery at the Times
Square Antique & Design Center, 3038 North Federal Hwy., Ft.
Lauderdale. For more information call (954) 663-3888
Sun
Sentenial Article Dec. 2, 2005
Ducks,
humans blend in ceramics show by Oakland Park artist
By Candice
Russell
Special Correspondent
The emotive, compelling
figures in ceramic by Oakland Park artist Stephanie Lowe dominate
Fort Lauderdale's RaZoo Gallery as part of a group show through
January. Human and part-human with curious duck heads, they speak
of the artist's experiences as a wife, a mother of three children
and a daughter of two parents who died of cancer when she was
an adult.
Survivor is a standing
female figure missing one breast. Fertility Gargoyle is an older
woman dealing with the issue of fertility as she ages, according
to Lowe. In a more whimsical vein, American Gargoyle has two major
elements -- a house with a roof used as a perch by an unreal creature,
the lower half human, the upper half duck.
Working from her studio
in a converted garage, Lowe has her own kiln and workbench where
she tinkers with several pieces in clay at once, made from red
earthenware that is half sand. Creation is done by the coil method,
rolling out long snakes of clay and attaching them bit by bit.
Dealing with the Florida humidity is a challenge. "Sometimes
I come out to the studio and my pieces look different because
their chests have collapsed or their heads have fallen off,"
she says.
Earning her bachelor of
fine arts degree five years ago, from the University of Central
Florida in Orlando, confirmed the artist's passion for art and
clay in particular. "I love clay above all other media,"
says Lowe. "Working with clay is a dance between the medium
and the sculptor. I honor it and let it move with me. If I fight
it, I have a bad day. I also look at clay as a very feminine substance.
It's generous, firm and solid and able to support what you want
it to do."
As a teacher at
the Broward Art Guild and frequent contributor to the guild's
monthly exhibitions and sales, Lowe caught the eye of RaZoo Gallery
owner Terry Kost, who specializes in art with an eccentric edge.
"Fantastic worlds and odd characters inhabit her skewed story
world," he says. "Her creations are super-realistic
representations rather than abstract forms tempered by dream-like
imagery."
Stephanie
Lowe's Exhibition History:
2005:
Art Serve Art Gallery. Broward Main Library. Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
2005: "Ceramics Biennial 2005."
Guilford Handicraft Center. Guilford, CT.
2005: "Jersey Shore Clay National."
Peter Callas, Juror. Mt Burton Gallery.
Surf City, New Jersey.
2005: "Earth And Fire."
Womanmade Gallery. Chicago. Ill.
2005: "Meet the Designers."
Art Serve Gallery. Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
2005: "Faces" Upstreampeoplegallery.com
Omaha, Nebraska. Exhibitor.
2005: "Spring Exhibit" Broward
Art Guild. Ft Lauderdale, FL. Judge's Recognition.
2005: "Human Image" Broward
Art Guild. Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Exhibitor.
2002: Broward Art Guild. Ft Lauderdale,
Florida. Exhibitor.
2001: "1st Thursdays" Orlando
Museum of Art. Orlando, Florida. Exhibitor.
2001: "The Art of Donation."
Translife Services. Orlando, Florida. Exhibitor.
2001: University of Central Florida
Student and Faculty Art Show. Cirent Gallery.
Orlando, Florida. Exhibtor.
2001: University of Central Florida
Bachelor of Fine Arts Show. Orlando, Florida.
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