An archive of maker, muscle, and material
Debra Weisberg on crafting "Embrangled," in "Lucid Ground" at Atlantic Wharf Gallery
Debra Weisberg’s sculptures and collages render the path of intuition, full of unpredictable twists and flights. Her marks follow the leads of material, hand, and evolving work. Maybe that’s why she joined Pell Lucy, an international artists collaborative whose credo is “form possesses its own intelligence.” The form, working with the artist, draws itself into being. Maker and material hold equal energy; the process is their dance, the product a record of their intimacy.
Debra’s airborne sculpture Embrangled is on view in Pell Lucy’s Lucid Ground at Atlantic Wharf Gallery through April 5. It writhes and tumbles with stiff white lines and knots that bring to mind connective tissues, the axons and dendrites of the nervous system, or an agitated flock of rangy white birds taking to the sky. Whatever it is, there’s both a startle to it and an embrace. It catches the tension of connection – the push-pull between individual components and the improbable and intricate network they form together.
That push-pull begins with the tension inherent in the material Debra works with. Is it pliable? Does it resist? And if this creation is indeed an equal dance, we can ask: Is the creator pliable? Does she resist? Embrangled is made with Fosshape, a felt-like material that responds to heat.
Lately, the artist has been collaborating with choreographer Paula Higa. I have not seen a performance, but I love the notion of bringing a moving human into contact with a piece like Embrangled. Maybe a dancer startles the flock all over again; maybe the flock startles her. Whatever happens, it creates that same delicious stress, that spark of what it is to connect – or strain against connection – in the present moment. Ripples flow out. Knots pull tighter. We catch our breaths. When the dance is over, we move in close to see the sculpture anew, because that space, that line, that opening have etched something into us that is now both new and familiar. Creating another connection. And a new opportunity for the next work of art.
Debra writes:
