Aldwyth, one of the six finalists for the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art, has lived in relative seclusion in Hilton Head, SC for several decades. Her work is composed of collages and assemblages that she creates from found objects, appropriated images, and other elements. She sees her work as very closely connected to her every day life, in the sense that her work is essentially her life and vice versa.
“I make my work for myself — each ‘work’ is defined as both verb and noun. The large collages and the bricolage work are made of many small works that inform each other. I never know what a work will look like until it is finished. It’s what I get up for every morning — to see what will happen during the process. Most of my work starts out as ‘what if’ or ‘how can I.’ The subject matter is generally autobiographical with science and technology underlying themes. The work is about what I do, making art, process. I use a series to examine a problem or idea — then usually the series ends up as one work. I spend months going through magazines and books, filing and cutting out images that will become one of several ideas simmering at a time. At sometime in the preparation I have to start putting certain things together and a work starts to take form and leads me on a fabulous trip.”
2015
A brain storm of images and thoughts by artists crowding my mind pushing all else aside.
What it means to be in the right place at the right time (or vice versa).
This very close association between life and work results in incredibly detailed and intricate works — often monumental in scale — that express a range of emotions and artistic inspiration. Each of Aldwyth’s works is different from the last, as her thoughts and emotions develop from day to day. She does not rush a project, but rather holds on to images and objects for years at a time, so that when she needs them she knows exactly where to find them. Aldwyth’s works, abstracted and detailed, have an incredibly well-thought out and polished quality which expresses an underlying meaning and inspiration — a true testament to the comprehensive and thorough process that she engages in every day.
This piece is an investigation into process and the work ethic done during seminal residency (my “MFA” thesis?) at ARAC. With access to all facilities, I learned new skills and fabricated 69 small 3 legged experiments. The work grew with me. A record of the fabrication of each work, texts collaged on every edge of containers, and all things pertaining to the work, are recorded in old ledger. I like to think of someone sitting with the work, packed, and opening each part, feeling the textures – reading the text some from old bootleg copy of Robinson Crusoe, and Science and Human Values by Bronowski and unwrapping each experiment and reading its documentation in the Book. Later, the repacked containers attached to a framework on wheels would be transported to a dark corner, leaving behind the Book open to a favorite page.
Visualizing a flood of eyes looking out as if the art were the observer. Silk tissue covers work by some of my favorite artists with the eyes sliding over and around the works – some embellished with the eyes of their creator.
An encyclopedia is a snapshot of what is deemed important at THAT time and by THAT compiler THIS is a compilation of those same images as THIS artist responds to them at THIS time. Every picture from 1873 Zell Encyclopedia (2000 plus) rearranged as still life, landscape, portraiture, abstraction, science, technology. Penciled across the central background are thoughts on the effect technology would have had on the process and the differences between traditional and computer generated collage. The attachment assists with details.
1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art Unveiling Party
Thursday, September 17, 6pm
$25 Society 1858 Members, $35 Non-Members
Location: The Drawing Room at The Vendue, 19 Vendue Range
1858 Prize Dinner
Thursday, September 17, 7:30pm
$100 Society 1858 Members, $135 Non-Members
Location: The Gallery at The Vendue, 26 Vendue Range
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit gibbesmuseum.org/events
—India Dial, Marketing Intern, 2015
Published August 14, 2015