Jorie Berman
Jorie Berman’s quiet anthropomorphic sculptures are informed by her fascination of the definition of “sacred” and my by own memory of particular spaces and objects. Her work began as an exploration of the temple, both as an architectural structure and as a metaphor for man's relationship with the unknown. Since then, the sculpture has evolved into a more personal narrative as Jorie continues to experiment with the use of the figure and its fragment, as well as the photographic image. She works intuitively with form, allowing ideas to develop organically as the material is manipulated
Jorie Berman at MudFire
Gallery group show Compositions, September 2008
Three person show Triple Take, September 2007
Jorie Berman Artist Statement
I am intrigued by the function of memory; how some memories are vivid while others are fleeting, how memory affects individual, familial, and cultural identity. Much of the source material for my work comes from vivid, personal memories of pilgrimages I took to India, being surrounded by folk art, and spending time with my maternal grandmother. Personal memories provide the framework from which I can ask broader questions about the relationships between the permanent and the ephemeral, reality and illusion, logic and intuition, the body and the mind, spirituality and insanity, image and form. Psychology, religion, and mythology inform my work as well, giving my personal experience context in the bigger picture.
I work with malleable clay because of its plastic character and its ability to record my touch. Hand building permits me to work intuitively with form, allowing ideas to develop organically as I manipulate the material. Just as the clay shards carry memories of past cultures, I think of my clay work as holding my experiences.
My work began as an exploration of the temple, both as an architectural structure and as a metaphor for man's relationship with the unknown. I was fascinated by what made something sacred and my by own memory of particular spaces and objects. As the function of memory has become more important to me, my work has evolved into a more personal narrative as I have experimented with the use of the figure and its fragment, as well as the photographic image.
In my recent work, I have been investigating various ways to combine image with form, the permanent with the ephemeral, and imagination with memory. Thinking of the clay object as the more permanent and the photographic image as ephemeral, I have carved, drawn, and projected imagery onto clay objects and figures to see how each reads differently, as the image becomes more or less a part of the object.
