Alyson Shotz Un/Folds At The Hunter
The next time you walk into the Hunter Museum of American Art, make time just to stay in the lobby before heading upstairs to the exhibit room. For that is where sculptor Alyson Shotz has created a companion piece to her exhibit “Un/Folding”, which features more than 25 works of varying scale in clay, copper, bronze, aluminum, paper, and thread that evoke aspects of the natural world and offer a broad view of her work over the last five years.
Treading a line between order and chaos, planned uniformity and unplanned disarray, Shotz employs natural phenomena—such as mass, force, gravity, and light—to create her works. Informed by concepts in physics and math, her sculptures take many forms, each particular to the concept she is investigating.
Shotz works in series: many of the exhibited works document the idea of change through time, as forms progress and shift. Like a scientist, Shotz poses questions and places parameters within which she experiments. Her pieces do not mimic scientific principles, but rather, metaphorically represent abstract notions of space.
Although the sculptures may appear deceptively simple, they are created through a complex mix of technology and hand work. Working across disciplines and using chance as a collaborator, Shotz straddles the worlds of innovation and traditional craft.
The exhibit will run through May 27. To get more information, visit huntermuseum.org