ELAINE LORENZ is a sculptor who works in clay for indoor pieces as well as fiberglass and cement for larger outdoor sculptures. She was born in the Bronx and is now living in New Jersey. She grew up with both the influence of NYC and the countryside of Massachusetts’ Berkshire Mountains where her parents grew up and later summered. Her parents were landscape painters and taught her to observe and appreciate the beauty of the natural world, which has been a major focus in her work. Over the years Lorenz has abstracted various aspects in nature, from the large rock formations of the Southwest to tiny seedpods. Her references to nature vary from ecological concerns, the uplifting joy and spirit found in living things and the repetitive patterns and textures observed. Lorenz received her M.F.A. from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is an Associate Professor at William Paterson University, teaching Ceramic Sculpture. Lorenz’s awards include: a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, NJ State Council on the Arts Fellowship Grants in 1988 and 1999, Athena Foundation Grant for Socrates Sculpture Park, a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant in 2001, and a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship in 2001.
ABOUT THE WORK
For Canopy Hotel, Lorenz’s sculptures are influenced by the complex textures and repetitive forms that nature creates. The sculptures are made from a speckled stoneware clay body that has been fired to around 2200 degrees. They are all hand built and one of a kind. The slight variation in color on some of the pieces reflects the amount of oxygen that area received during the gas firing. Less oxygen creates a reduction atmosphere and thus a darker tone in the clay body. Lorenz prefers this serendipitous and unaffected coloration to a glazed surface, but sometimes she adds an oxide coloration before firing or an acrylic wash afterwards.
The tenaciousness of life amazes Lorenz. Trees growing out of crevices in rocks, mushroom pushing through asphalt paths and plants growing up through cinders of a volcano are some of my observations. She keeps returning to the uplifting and generative aspect of nature. As a gardener she sees sprouting vegetation as an optimistic sign and it is her metaphor for life and relationships. Vertigo dances and spirals upward in a joyous and free wheeling way.
ABOUT THE WORK
For Canopy Hotel, Lorenz’s sculptures are influenced by the complex textures and repetitive forms that nature creates. The sculptures are made from a speckled stoneware clay body that has been fired to around 2200 degrees. They are all hand built and one of a kind. The slight variation in color on some of the pieces reflects the amount of oxygen that area received during the gas firing. Less oxygen creates a reduction atmosphere and thus a darker tone in the clay body. Lorenz prefers this serendipitous and unaffected coloration to a glazed surface, but sometimes she adds an oxide coloration before firing or an acrylic wash afterwards.
The tenaciousness of life amazes Lorenz. Trees growing out of crevices in rocks, mushroom pushing through asphalt paths and plants growing up through cinders of a volcano are some of my observations. She keeps returning to the uplifting and generative aspect of nature. As a gardener she sees sprouting vegetation as an optimistic sign and it is her metaphor for life and relationships. Vertigo dances and spirals upward in a joyous and free wheeling way.