“My primary satisfaction comes from making the work, and my idea of success is getting it to look right….I can’t prove my art’s good or that it means what I say it means. And nothing I say can improve on the way it looks.” – Ken Price
San Francisco, CA (April 15, 2016) – Historically art has served as a medium to capture and provide commentary on societal issues and current events. In today’s complicated world we are in a constant struggle to better cope with life’s challenges. Achieving balance is foremost in our daily quest to survive, and ideally, thrive and be happy. In this exhibition, Blood, Stone & Mirrors, Thielscher examines the tension in our personal lives as we struggle to maintain balance. When balance is achieved through perfect tension of opposing forces, a certain harmony and beauty transpires.
Everyone and everything has a story. Thielscher is no exception. “With every piece that I make I am sharing something that is important to me. I love the challenge of trying to tell a story or convey an idea with a single static object”, explains Thielscher. In this new body of work, the artist investigates the interplay of new materials; neon, wood, bronze and resin, along with stone, his primary medium.
We are all made up of DNA, the building blocks of life. Existension plays with this reality and epitomizes the theme of this exhibition. In this piece, out of a single piece of Carrara marble Thielscher has carved blocks precariously balanced upon one another. These blocks are a metaphor for how each of our unique lives is built, either through our intentions and decisions, or simply through serendipity or bad luck. The blocks are held together in an ephemeral way by a ribbon representing how fragile and precarious is the life that we have built. The perfect balance and tension has been attained, if only for the moment.
Berkeley based artist, Doug Thielscher, has been sculpting since 2002. The artist is self-taught and learned the art of stone carving while working amongst the artigiani in Pietrasanta, Italy. Thielscher’s works have an inclination toward figurative subject matter that is anchored by a strong narrative. These narratives convey the enduring stories of human interaction and emotion, and attempt to serve as a mirror for the viewer to reflect on his or her own life.
