ARTIST BRINGING ARMORED CHILDREN SCULPTURE TO COBLESKILL AS RESPONSE TO SCHOOL MASSACRES
“The continued slaughter of innocent schoolchildren has compelled me to reassemble 27 of my woven steel child-sized figures which have toured the world in the past.” — Kate Taverna
THE KIDS installation depicts a children’s playground from hell where armor-clad child sculptures form a tableau of aggressive games and activities, bullying, fighting, competing, climbing the walls. The anachronistic reference to medieval armor can also appear futuristic.
“It’s a war being waged on ourselves,” says Taverna, “and it’s escalating. That’s why I need to show this work now.”
The other half of the show presents another form of armor as a state of mind. Commenting on her visionary new pastel and charcoal drawings of SHELLS, Taverna explains: “I imagine them in motion and defending themselves against predators as well as the contaminated tides of our polluted oceans.”
Accompanying the drawings are large woven steel sculptures inspired by shells and sea life.
