 – Elizabeth Turk’s “Collar 21” work went on display during the opening of the new Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Her ability to manipulate marble…){kind=link}
(PNAN-NC) – Elizabeth Turk’s “Collar 21” work went on display during the opening of the new Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Her ability to manipulate marble into such exquisite forms defies the medium’s rigid qualities and is nothing short of extraordinary. We are proud to share her impressive artwork with the public,” said the museum’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Carla Hanzal.
As part of a series of sixteen carved sculptures, “Collar 21” is one of a rich variety of organic and geometric patterns. The piece combines allusions to decorative motifs and the self-organizing systems of the natural world, drawing from lace-making and Elizabethan fashion, as well as botanical, skeletal and architectural structures.
“Elizabeth has a quiet, thoughtful, yet powerful sensibility,” said Suzanne Fetscher, President of Charlotte’s McColl Center for Visual Art. At the time of Turk’s Artist-in-Residence at the McColl, “She called our center a “candy store” where artists can explore materials, tools and relationships with other artists and the community, which is our reason for being.”
While her past artistic projects have involved works in metal, glass, and porcelain, as well as drawings, photography and video, Turk has focused on marble in her major series of works, continuing the theme of fragile, textile-like compositions with the strength and heft of stone, with a surprising sense of buoyancy and undulating movement as with her recent series of marble ribbons suspended in midair.
Artist Turk was also named as one of 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2010 by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, who are selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future. She receives $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years.