PETER BUSBY

AMPHORAE | EAST GALLERY
DECEMBER 7 - JANUARY 13, 2017

These collective pieces represent the realization of an idea I’ve carried with me for decades—an idea prompted by a visit to Karnak, a temple located in southern Egypt. The great roof of the Karnak temple was supported by numerous, colossal, columns that visitors are able to walk around and between. With this show, I aim to emulate that memorable experience—that humbling feeling of existing among something so much greater than oneself. Much like my experience with the columns at Karnak, viewers walk among the Amphorae, rather than around a single piece. The individual forms, inspired by the ancient urns and vessels I encountered during my travels as a young adult, are defined by rolled steel rod wrapped around a wooden frame, so that the overall shape is implied, but not restrictive. And so, viewers become a part of the installation itself, both physically, as they weave their ways through the giant vessels, and mentally, as they allow their minds to imagine each form as a solid, voluminous structure. While the Amphorae openly reference ancient vessels through their classical forms, the materials used, the scale, and the apparent non-functionality of the vessels thrust these works into the contemporary sphere, thus, provoking a dialog between classical and contemporary approaches to art, between idealized forms and process.

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