Hanging Around - Polymer clay, not painted - 8 x 10
Fran Abrams discovered polymer clay in 2000 when she sought a medium that would allow her to work in color and in three dimensions. It has fascinated her ever since. All her work is unpainted: the color is integral to the clay, which can be mixed and shaped without limit to create both paintings and sculptures.
This show is a retrospective of her work over 20 years, from her earliest pieces, through her development of a "silk scarf" method of sculpturally draping the clay, to her most recent work in a style she calls "progressions." Though polymer clay is often used for craft, Abrams' aim is to establish it in the fine art world.
She uses it to express her responses to both society and nature. This show ranges from pieces with an intensely urban feel, like the early Some Assembly Required and more recent Hanging Around -- to American landscapes, small but somehow sweeping, like A River Runs Through It and Amber Waves of Grain. Abrams' work is at once witty and moving.
Watch Fran discuss her artwork and her solo show in a recorded interview here.
