Judith Brotman

My recent work includes mixed media sculptural objects that suggest or imply a use or function. Often these objects appear to have already had a history. The installation “Objects for Perfect Strangers,” derived, in part, from armor forms, utilizes industrial felt to subvert expectations of the impenetrable. I am also interested in working with the properties of the material---the drape, flow, and movement of industrial felt--- in creating these sculptural forms.

A recent exhibition, “Captive Audience” consists of abstract sculptural forms that suggest objects/weapons with the potential to catch, trap, ensnare. It is my intention for these forms to be situated in an ambiguous space, poised between playful and threatening, aggressive and impotent.

My newest work includes installations of stitched paper which hover between sculpture and drawing and, as well, between the polarities of delicate and menacing. These objects suggest a relationship to the body which is frequently subverted by scale, positioning, and a variety of confounding elements. Influences on my work include Dada absurdist objects, images, and machines; post-minimalist works, and a wide variety love stories from sources as diverse as Othello to day time soap operas.