Terry Maker

I just always wanted to break the rules.

~ Terry Maker*

The essay "Of Mind and Matter: The Art of Terry Maker" by Steve Rabey (Image Journal, No. 75, Fall 2012) sent me in search of additional information about this fascinating conceptual artist who literally and metaphorically unearths meaning, emotion, and message through her intentional process of layering and cutting away.

Maker, who lives in Colorado, works with resin, candy such as jawbreakers, shredded currency and other paper such as medical or school documents, crayons, markers, and pencils, vinyl LPs, film strips, metal, and a wide assortment of recycled and found objects to create sliced, drilled, scraped, and "otherwise manipulated" sculptural forms. In the About section of her Website, Maker says her work is about "addressing themes relating to human desire and decay, death and resurrection, both mundane and sacred and mark making, both literal and figurative." Even Maker's use of traditional canvas and acrylics produces reimagined forms and unexpected patterns. While her work is thought-out and thoughtful, even provocative in its approach to the complexities of human experience and such themes as greed and consumption, it is not without humor. 

For those wanting an introduction to Maker, here's a 7:33-minute video with the artist, whose work most recently was shown in "Terry Maker: Reckoning" at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and Museum and CSFAC curator Blake Milteer. (A catalogue from the multimedia exhibition is available from the center.)

Take the time to explore Maker's Website, which includes still photos of her art-making processes and an excellent selection of images of her work. 

One of the pieces in the CSFAC's exhibition was Ozymandian Tree- A Silent Film. This video, intercut with home movies from Maker's childhood, shows the artist preparing strips of 16 mm film for her artwork. She is sculpting words from Shelly's poem "Ozymandias", her source of inspiration.

* Quoted from Cherise Fantus, "Garden Variety", Colorado Springs Independent, February 16, 2012

Terry Maker at Robischon Gallery

Douglas Brown, "Louisville Couple Bring Their Quirky Aesthetic to a Home Full of Transformations", Denver Post, February 25, 2012 (The article features Maker and her husband Chris Rogers.)