My work may be regarded as animated abstraction. Content may be shaped by the associations of the viewer. I am a sculptor by disposition. I honor the tradition of hand-built clay vessels using my body as a reference point. How forms evolve in space is a kind of choreography. Imagery emerges from sources both organic and human-made; from the resistance and cooperation of materials themselves. My work is informed by drawing, gesture, emptiness; by animism as an energetic and heart-based reality. My practice also provides me with a stage to acknowledge and process grief and loss in our time.

I am drawn to old growth trees and ancient species whose time on earth predates our own. Many are now endangered. Our lives are intertwined. How to discover the secrets they hold. I want to learn to listen.

This 11-year survey of my studio practice at FOMA includes painting and encaustic, sculpture made from recycled cardboard, and more recently, ceramic sculpture.

Lindsay Iliff