MARY EARLY

STATEMENT

Each sculpture is a variation on the same basic shape, utilizing the repetition or conglomeration of tapered shapes to create three-dimensional, multi-faceted objects. These pieces have been compared to sea urchins and horse chestnuts, both natural forms whose structure is that of many points extending from a center point, creating an object that occupies the space of a sphere.

The cement and wax forms are constructed from an armature of various materials, including wood, wire, and polyurethane foam. Cement is applied to the armature, creating a rigid surface, and then the cement is covered with wax, smoothed, and burnished. The thickness where the wax and cement meet varies, creating an irregular pattern of light to dark beneath the wax surface.

Recent sculptures are created from slats of wood glued together with fabric backing, then assembled into larger shapes. The wood structure is shaped and reinforced with putty, then layered with beeswax. Untitled (raft), 2003 could be just that, a small object floating away, an object whose scale is delineated by its environment. Untitled, 2005, created from over 6,000 wood slats, is similar in its construction, describing a complete circle rather than a single plane.