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BIO DATA:
B.A in Fine Arts from Case Western Reserve University
Post-graduate studies at U. of Hartford; William and Mary College
Natasha Downs has exhibited internationally for 25 years; has had numerous solo exhibitions and sculpture has won awards in the U.S., India, Indonesia and South Africa. Special exhibitions sponsored by UNICEF and Children's Hospital Association of Kuwait. Currently represented by galleries in Texas and New Mexico.
BAS-RELIEF DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNIQUE:
My low-relief wall panels are references to the complexity of our geologic earth, the infinite diversity of nature's order and the part we play in this amazing cycle. Especially here, on the limestone cliffs of the Pedernales River, one sees these layers of life and time that we are all bound to by a harmony that cannot be easily expressed by words.
I use a variety of hand-building clay techniques, but primarily slab construction. Rolled-out white clay slabs are imprinted with a variety of hand-made stamps – my "library" of icons, patterns and symbols that lets me impress images quickly rather than carving each one separately. The slabs are then joined, sometimes paddled, cut and re-joined or shaped from underneath for added dimension. More layers are added, pieces torn out or rolled up until I have "told the story." The finished piece is wrapped in plastic and dried very slowly to avoid cracking. Once bone-dry, the delicate, brittle slab is carefully loaded into my kiln and fired. I then have decisions about how to paint the work (often with many layers of acrylic glaze). This is a critical point and once started, there is no going back! Historically, sculpture and bas-reliefs were painted and I'm happy to carry on in that tradition using modern materials. The finished work is assembled and mounted for wall hanging.
ARTIST'S BIO INFORMATION
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