Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present new drawings and sculptures by Nancy Steinson at 121 Main Street in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition will run from August 3, 2018 through September 2, 2018. The opening for the show will be on Friday August 3, 2018 from 6-8:30 pm.
Steinson began her sculptural career as a representational artist. Under the influence of Constantin Brancusi, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, she began to make abstract work. Another influence was minimalism, which helped her shed ornament from her work. Initially concentrating on small ovular curvilinear forms generally carving forms in marble, her work eventually evolved toward purely geometric structures, made from welded steel and bronze that generate out of central core in order to express movement, direction, space and scale.
In time, Steinson sought to combine her interest in organic form with her use of flat geometric planes that she had been using to construct her sculptures. She began to develop her work from cardboard by bending it into curved planes. The finished models would then be given to fabricators who could curve flat steel sheets. The resulting sculptures were able to move out into space unlike the earlier carved forms in stone that to Steinson are based on compression.
Similar to minimalism, Steinson’s works are clean with only subtle surface activity and color. They force the viewer to focus on the form. However, in contrast to minimalism, her forms are complex and rarely simple or basic. A more apt comparison may be to the process Matisse used in his cutouts when he condensed foliage to simplified shapes that while emphasizing an abstraction of the plant or flower retained its structure and its essential character. This is evident in Steinson’s sculptures. While she doesn’t directly reference specific organic forms such as a plant, the sculptures contain the richness of nature and definitely its complexity.
Buster Levi Gallery is open Friday through Sunday from 12-6 pm
For more information: busterlevigallery.com