JC Stahl brings dance to his steel sculpture

Emerge Gallery is pleased to be exhibiting two new sculptures by artist JC Stahl. Dance #1: Pas de Deux and Mobile #13 are being exhibited as part of ISD Saugerties — a town wide celebration of sculpture throughout the month of April.

JC Stahl discusses his sculpture:

Artist Statement:

I had a brief career in dance, hoping to ultimately be a choreographer.

My work for the last few years has been an effort to show how it feels when I move. I envisioned a piece that I wanted to make in metal. As I didn't know how to weld, I went to night classes at Cape Cod Regional Technical School.

With my sculptures, I picture a final form, and begin. If I need to build a base, I begin there. The pieces are made from ribbons that come from a single sheet of steel. I cut it a few feet at a time, then grind, heat and twist it into a fluid line in space. I then see what I have and continue, still working towards an end that may now have changed. Working it becomes a physical challenge in itself.I think that is part of the appeal for me. I work until I feel it is right, or until I run out of steel. I have never added on to the original sheet. I prefer to set limits.

I make my living building stone and water gardens by hand, but I feel that my best work, my most consistently true work, is the sculpting I am doing now. I have worked in many media, but this work feels like a confluence of everything I do in one creation. They are movement in space made solid, describing their place in the world.

Saugerties, New York celebrates International Sculpture Day with a month-long series of village and town wide sculpture exhibitions by artists who live or work in Saugerties and environs. International Sculpture Day (ISDay) is a world-wide event celebrated on the last Saturday in April to further the goals of the International Sculpture Center to "advance the creation and understanding of sculpture and its vital, unique contribution to society". Throughout the month of April, Saugerties will join hundreds of artists, organizations and institutions in over 20 countries in celebrating Sculpture in all of its manifestations. This 2nd annual town-wide celebration will showcase both outdoor sculpture and indoor sculpture in all media- from installation art to ceramics to metalwork and woodwork.