Studios > Barbara Wallace
Barbara Wallace
The kitchen table is a very important symbol and vehicle for stimulating creativity and achieving excellence in my life and psyche. I have been aware for some time that James Joyce had a special relationship with his kitchen. When it came to his great masterpiece Ulysses, Joyce “worked wherever he could find space - at a kitchen table, in the living room, or sometimes even propped up in bed." The kitchen table of my family of origin served as an aid in propelling two of four children into the position of high school class Valedictorian. For creating my sculpture, in place of my kitchen table, I actually use the portable dishwasher, which has wheels, which are very helpful for a person working in 3-D. According to the historians, Dylan Thomas’ first desk was his kitchen table. In summary, the breakfast nook in my kitchen currently serves as my studio. I use my portable dishwasher instead of my real sculpture table. I work in intervals of 20 minutes or less with regular interruptions from my children, telephone and doorbell. Nothing has prevented me from making art.
The human figure is the inspiration, starting point, and measure of all things in my artwork. In earlier works I have represented life-size figures and larger than life body parts. My artwork is a celebration of life. As in much of the artwork that we have from antiquity, my work is also a memorial to those who have died. In our modern time, most of us are familiar with photographic images of global war, natural disasters, and human suffering. In a sense every time that I combine groups of bodies, groups of heads, or use any human references, I memorialize and celebrate the lives of those victims and also the survivors. The human figures in my sculptures are represented as alive, not dead, and they occupy a level of existence that celebrates humanity and togetherness even in times of great tragedy and terror.
