Sara lee d'Alessandro

The hand-built fired clay unique has been my sculpture medium for almost six decades.   My sculpture is “organic” because the method of formation is an evolving one; it is not designed.   Clay is the physical past ground by the maw of time, and so, it is the embodiment of flux.  It has plasticity, immediacy, ability to record history.  It can even convey intent.   Pursuing energy and animation, not idealization, I prefer asymmetry over symmetry and “the heat of creation” over refinement.   I am committed to the process of the unique (one of a kind).  I may work a form, such as the column, the spire, the spiral, in series, but each work is begun anew from scratch.  This permits new ideas to enter the dialogue and allows the potential for new energy.   Sculpting for me is a dialogue, a seeking.  Clay with its frightening fecundity and eternal potency has much to impart.

Although I have work for indoors, my primarily focus, these last twenty some years, is on large sculptures for the outdoors.   Fired clay is a suitable and durable material for outdoor sculpture.  I am prepared to discuss this with anyone who doubts.  Fired clay satisfies a thirst for volume and deep and rich texture absent in most public sculpture.   Solar transit mobilizes shadow to emerge and to recede, shifting form, animating the pieces throughout the day.

 The scale of my sculpture is personable, not monumental.   Multiple element installations create larger forms responsive to the site in which they inhabit.   Arising up from the same ground with the viewer, mingling among the elements becomes an invitation to be part of the assembled.  This emphasizes the individual as a part of a larger entity, rather than promoting the cult of the individual.