Artist Nancy Lee to Exhibit Sculptures on June 3, 2011 at Circle City Industrial Compex

May 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Nancy Lee’s opening reception for “Push: Exploring Boundaries” is Friday, June 3, 2011 6-9PM

Nancy Lee Designs is pleased to present a new collection of distinct copper sculptures. The show opens June 3, 2011 and runs through June 25. An opening night reception is scheduled for Friday, June 3, 6-9 PM, in conjunction with IDADA’s First Friday Art Tour. Gallery event is free and open to the public. Ample free parking.

“I am thrilled to be hosting a show that will present my interpretation of dimensionality created from sheets of metal. Copper is a favorite material for me and watching it come to life through these sculptures as been surprising in many ways,” states Lee.

Her newest work is derived from a complex, dimensional form that appeared in her imagination and drove her to create “Pod,” her first sculpture. She received an Individual Artist Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission for 2010-11, making further investigations possible. The result is an exhibition that mounts the original “Pod” sculpture with four new works. To round out the exhibition, Lee includes two manipulated photographs (in collaboration with Wug Laku) and two abstract expressionist paintings by Wug Laku.  

The artist uses copper sheets and foldforming techniques as a basis for each sculpture. Each sheet is heated with a torch to soften the metal, folded, hammered, and annealed again to soften the metal for further folding. The folds are a simple, direct way to apply form and dimension. When unfolded, the information applied by the hammer remains. It can be likened to Origami, the art of paper folding, in that a sheet of paper folded and unfolded retains the applied crease, and some dimension is created.

Lee creates complex forms using the foldforming process, incorporating cuts in the metal and performing multiple folds, pushing the material to its limits. The processes in her work are studied, yet the results illustrate the chance happenings that occur in nature and in life. Lee’s sure hammer marks and fire-created patinas contrast with the fluid, elegant lines of her work, creating a unity between imagination and interpretation.

Recently, Lee has been working on sterling silver jewelry inspired by one-of-a-kind gemstones and unusual cabochons she has acquired in her travels. The viewer is invited to explore the landscape of the miniature in these works.  

About Nancy Lee Designs Studio

Located in the Circle City Industrial Complex in the Mass. Ave warehouse district, the 500,000 square foot building is the creative lair to many other artists who show their own work and the work of others in a variety of settings. Nancy Lee Designs Studio presents contemporary art in a gallery setting.