Artist statement:
Flowing through Struggle
(For sculpture)
For as long as I can remember I have had an innate drive to help people. This drive to help my fellow human not only comes from my connection to the divine, but my own life long journey with struggle; a state that is continuous and always changing. Struggle is something everyone will experience in life and takes many forms. I realized early on that guiding people through their struggles would be where I was needed the most. I never thought, however, that welding pieces of metal together would be included in my repertoire of ways to offer that help. My journey as a “human sculptor” began in 2003 when I became a personal trainer and future yogi. I didn’t realize the power I had until my late twenties when I began taking my practice seriously, it changed me as a healer and professional. As in my own case, my clients yearn for guidance and inner peace, a way to break free from the stereotypes that plague our society. Like many, we are fighting a constant battle daily; to conform to what they (society) wants us to be, or, become who we were meant to be by embracing all of who we are, the inner, outer and spiritual. It wasn’t until my second bout of college pursuing an art degree that metal and bronze sculpture became a catalyst for bringing these ideas to a larger audience. My metal sculptures are figurative and conceptual portrayals of the human female form in yoga poses, generally life-size and typically anchored to a metal surfboard. Because of yoga’s presence in my life, I wanted to use its physical aspect, asana, or, the movement part, to be a visual representation of flow. The metal surfboard represents one of the forces that personally keeps me rooted in the “ground”; surfing. The figures are meant to convey a sense of flow while the surfboard serves a dual metaphorical purpose, prime mover as well as stabilizer. Other sculpture features related symbols morphing into human shape and are secured to some type of entrapping mechanism such as a box that is too small for the figure within. I choose to keep the figure inside the box with its “arms” and “legs” sticking out of the somewhat enclosed sides vs. the wide open front and back to emphasize that not only can we escape this “narrow way of being” anytime we want, but that we can flow in and out of it freely. The end goal is to offer viewers a helpful reminder that it is possible to flow through struggles in life. By turning a seemingly permanent element, metal and transforming it into a curving, liquid and tranquil piece, I have been able to demonstrate visually the same results I see in my students physically and mentally. These opposing factors of metal versus water not only speak to the trials and tribulations of daily life, but to the conflict within us to conform, or, maintain our individuality. The greatest message I convey through my sculpture, as well as with my students, is to encourage an embracement of the negative energy rather than avoid it, because it is, after all, along the same cycle as the positive. Peace, love and blessings Tara Lamb 2013 |