Ans W. Amsen - Sculptor

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Marion Woodman writes: "Metaphor is the language of the soul. Through a physical image, metaphor reveals a spiritual truth or condition."

Sculpture can be a mute invitation to be moved by the power of symbol. It speaks through its physical presence, can embody the threshold between the physical world and the intangible human spirit. The shape of a bird's wing or the movement of a river - these are primeval ingredients of sculptural metaphor. A bird's flight, or a carved gesture of it, can release within our bodies sensations of flying, or liberation.

My sculpting has its roots in 20'th century organic abstraction. I am fascinated by how we perceive, feel, think and communicate through and about form - the intrinsic relationships between matter, energy and meaning. As a sculptor I am particularly interested in the relationship between an experience of shape and movement, and the attribution of meaning - the sensory origins of symbol. The works of Georgia O'Keeffe and Emily Carr; the poetry in music of Joni Mitchell; the empirical teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and Carl Jung; and the sculptures of Henry Moore and Hans Arp converge to inform and influence my approach. The elemental forms and forces in and of Nature and their inherent symbolism inspire me. The organic relationships I witness, prompt me to give form to them.

"Mind cannot be separated from its object. Mind is consciousness. Consciousness must always be conscious of something. Feeling is always feeling something. This 'something' is the object of the mind. Mind cannot arise if there is no object. Mind cannot exist if the object of the mind does not exist. The mind is, at one and the same time, the subject of consciousness and the object of consciousness." - Thich Nhat Hanh

My sculptures begin as loosely sketched material compositions - raw drafts of shapes and impressions of movement that have deeply captured my attention. It's as if I have been dreaming them and have left traces at my bedside to build upon from waking. While sculpting, refining and unifying these physical formations, I am imagining how water or wind or light would shape them, in a way that all in the natural world is formed. Creating each work is like hearing the strains of a new song in my head and wanting to build a full symphony. It's a meditation on form and being form.