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Brenda
Stumpf
Brenda Stumpf's latest body of work is titled “Eggs Rocks Pearls”. It explores, compares, and excavates the self, relationships, and the relationship to the self; often being the observer and the observed simultaneously.
Most of the nineteen pen and ink drawings are intimate in scale, the smallest measuring 3.25 x 8 inches. All are recognizably fastidious in their execution and carry a complex, deep-rooted, almost peculiar iconography which stands in stark contrast to the simplistic, traditional media.
Geological in their heaped and mountainous formations, each is meticulously 'built' with painstakingly detailed spherical shapes. The organic and mutable configurations of the small round shapes seem slightly distorted in their construct, yet delicately balanced and bound; singularly, paired, or in groupings. Some have gaping holes suggesting growth (openings or breakthroughs), or possibly decay, yet all have extrusions of fibers or filaments at their spire, hinting at something lighter – something of spirit.
The three words used for the title, “Eggs Rocks Pearls” contain a vast magnitude of metaphors; the potentiality and creation carried within the egg, the inflexibility and permanence of rocks, and the wisdom and richness surrounding the pearl. Stumpf evokes an inner world where both the feminine and masculine are intertwined with the qualities of nature to personify our relationships, whether interpersonal or impersonal.
Brenda
Stumpf's sculpture is created from an array of non-traditional
materials. Piano strings, typewriter parts, metal
and PVC pipe shavings, rubber bands, industrial wood
molds, a melted broom, a toy piano, leather, tulle,
raffia, gourds, sand, dirt, dried flowers and insects,
are just a portion of some of the materials she has
used in this work. Much of the found and collected
objects are often covered with the warm sienna and
translucent paper from steeped tea bags, and portions
coated with white paint and/or pigmented wax. Stumpf
lovingly labors over her work and some of the longest
processes are in the deconstruction of objects and
preparing of materials prior to their use. These processes
feel ritual like and ceremonial, which adds an incredible
layer of meaning to her work. One process is the steeping
of hundreds of tea bags at a time. They are steeped
in hot water and placed to dry over a period of days.
The tops are then cut off, and the tea is removed.
Lastly, the seam is opened and the delicate paper
is flattened. This process was completed numerous
times during the creation of the entire body of work.
Stumpf has an endless fascination with history, religion,
mythology, and metaphysics. She is reading and researching
all the time, collecting clues, bits of information,
extensively before, during, and even after the work
is completed. It is an integral part of her work and
her life. Stumpf's art has referenced such subjects
as the Black Virgin, the goddess (in multiple incarnations),
shamanism, alchemy, sacred sexuality, the music of
Arvo PŠrt, and the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Hafiz.
There is, in her, in the work, elements that are like
secrets, like prayers. Some of the work suggests celebration,
some meditation. Other pieces seem as if they are
offerings to love and/or loss. Through these sometimes
seemingly cryptic structures, Stumpf strives to create
that which resonates on aesthetic, intellectual, and
spiritual levels. While working on her art it often
feels as if she is distilling the ancient and presenting
it's modern counterpart.
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