True to Form
Photography: Timothy Thimmes
Artist Stacy Phillips is interested in exploring a personal relationship with “the body.” Even her work ethic relates to this quest. “I prefer to produce a ‘body’ of work rather than miscellaneous pieces,” Phillips explains. She focuses on the human form, not from a sexual or scientific view, but by contemplating its place in the world versus the space it occupies.
The space Phillips currently occupies is a stool in her Peoa studio. Its jumble of stimuli — bushels of beads, swatches of vintage patterned fabric, art books, colorful clay pieces and pages torn from magazines — gets sleepy synapses popping and opens the senses to creativity. According to Phillips, there are infinite possibilities and challenges in art when you think of the endless materials and concepts that are available to the open mind. A flash of color, varying scale and unusual textures all serve to jump-start ideas that evolve into things of beauty under her guidance. Not everyone creates art for the same reasons. “I am fascinated and addicted,” she says, “to the process of making art. To be immersed in it, to absorb as much about both the technical and conceptual aspects of the creative journey is what brings me joy.”
Walk into Park City’s Coda Gallery where Phillips shows her work, and your attention will immediately be drawn to her sensual full-size torsos. They are sculpted from clay, carved of polished wood, molded in metal or ceramic, and decorated with beaded skirts, jewelry, shiny tacks or leather vines swirled in intricate designs. “I’ve always liked patterns, either man-made or natural,” Phillips says. Some of these pieces were inspired by African art or derived from the tattoos and designs of the Maori culture in New Zealand. “What do our bodies and our need to adorn ourselves with jewelry, clothing or tattoos, reveal about ourselves, and what does this say to others?” she wonders. “Adornment is a form of communication, a personal voice, one not necessarily meant to be passed on to the viewer.”
Past residencies in Mexico and with artist Siglinda Scarpa in Pittsboro, North Carolina, provided much-needed submersion in artistic communities where she benefited from the shared, creative energy of both established and emerging artists. Over the last six years, Phillips has been working solo, focusing on creating work represented in eight different shows. Phillips’ current pieces are inspired by the flat-faced sculptures found in the Cycladic culture of ancient Greece and the stone faces of Easter Island. Chinese and Indo/Buddhist symbolism and the cultures of Oceania and the South Sea Islands are also fodder for her fertile mind. Small ceramic pieces lining the shelves, duplicates except for varying multiple glazes and designs, indicate that Phillips is not afraid to dabble in a new technique, repeating and refining the process until she arrives at just the right end result.
A former gallery owner, Phillips is a featured artist in local galleries and also displays her work in New York City and Palm Springs. Unlike a lot of artists, her undergraduate degrees are in business and graphic design. After spending a year and a half in a MFA program, Phillips realized that she wanted to be a full-time, independent artist, free to step out of the traditional box and experiment with new forms and surfaces. “I like the natural process, the balance between production and creation, between the right and left sides of my brain. I want my art to evolve organically, from experiences, senses, travel and non-related stimulation.”
What is the point of these artistic explorations, this search for depth and meaning? For Stacy Phillips, it is a celebration of beauty and a joyous fête of endless possibilities in the pursuit of creation and discovery.
Corinne Humphrey is a freelance writer and photographer with a client list that includes Cooking Light, Sunset, Air France Magazine, Wall St. Journal Weekend and other national and international publications. She recently added “Publisher” and “Illustrator” to her resume with the release of her new children's picture book, The TAO of RUDY.
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Reader Comments:
I would really like to see some links here to the artist and to the gallery. Great article!