Stone Sculpture

I see my work in stone as meditations on a distant past which has been obscured by an unbalanced historical process. The scuptures rose unbidden from an intuitive place that I did not know existed. It was only after they appeared that I discovered their precursors through research in ancient artifacts and in the writings of modern feminist theorists and thinkers. I realized that many of my sculptures embody facets of the female principle which have been overlooked in art made about women by men. They go behind the "model and muse" tradition, but are not simply works with a viewpont of the current destructive political situation. They speak from the psychological reality of being a woman in a culture that systematically devalues women and their generative, teaching and healing powers, a culture that has feared those powers. They speak from a source of a spirituality that honors both women and men, worships the Earth and works for the welfare of animals and the environment.  
The Singer. She who sings life alive out of her body. (Steatite)


 

 

 

 

 

 
Bev in studio with Moonshell. (Marble)

The image of female as creator has been important to me since I was a very young child. The image of a female/male god has encouraged me through my lifelong study of comparative religion. In the course of my life, I have seen humans progress from having ice boxes in their homes to having Blackberries in their valises. I have witnessed the resulting destruction and poisoning of our Mother Nature by wars, mining, oil drilling, chemical dumping, pesticides, agribusiness, radioactive waste, air pollution, garbage, and a total disregard for environmental realities. Now, people have finally begun to realize the dangers of uncontrolled technology. With the advent of global warming, they perceive at last the danger that flows from our serious loss of genuine relationship with Nature. It is my hope that the healing vision of gender balance,new forms of community and spirituality, and respect for our natural world will become the shaping forces of future culture.



There are many ways to create the female/male balance which is required for our species'survival and progress; I believe the visual and musical arts are extremely important factors in this long overdue cultural revisioning. Images serve to right the balance, by opening (as more traditional meditative objects may do) our eyes to realities which have been repressed both in the development of each person's psyche and in the growth of our culture's.

 

Baby and Bird (Alabaster). This piece was inspired by a small but very powerful and psychologically complex Eskimo sculpture about three inches tall.

 

Mother Goose. (Alabaster) A family of geese have lived on my farm for over
twenty years.

 

 

 

 

 

Saluki. (Alabaster) I have been fortunate to
be guardian to four of these great dogs.

Snake and Egg. (Polished and sanded Steatite.) From the Buddha's Hand series.

 

 

 

 

 

Skull. (Steatite) From a series of bone inspired sculptures.