Spy Emerson: Sculpture
Spy’s sculptural works occupy a broad set of visual
styles and artistic aims. Some, such as Untitled (Jesus
and Buddha 2004), are obviously informed by her collage
work and the ironic reorganization of everyday visual
culture. While others,like Chair (2004), attempt to
formalize the more conceptual or poetic narratives that
inform her artistic practice. Across all these works,
however, Spy is interested in making manifest the ways in
which all the raw materials that literally shape her
three-dimensional work are recovered from otherwise
invisible spheres within our culture (be this through
Untitled’s glorification of mass-produced icons
meant more for dark corners than well-lit alters, the
broken furniture left to disintegrate in the rain that
forms the base of Chair, or the recycled socks and thread
that are fashioned into so many mute monkey dolls).