Beth Cavener Stichter

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Beth Cavener (2016)

Beth Cavener (born November 25, 1972 in Pasadena , California ), also known as Beth Cavener Stichter , is a Montana- based American artist. As a classically trained sculptor, Cavener is known for her animal figures made of clay , which embody the complexity of human emotions and behaviors and can be understood as psychological portraits . The creation process can take up to 2 years and, depending on the size of a sculpture , hundreds of kilograms of clay are used. Cavener's compositions have received multiple awards and are exhibited in private galleries and public museums in the United States .

Life

Cavener grew up as the daughter of a molecular biologist and an art teacher and names her parents as having a significant influence on her work. After initially studying astrophysics, she majored and received a BA in Fine Arts (majoring in sculpture) from Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 1995 . Between 2000 and 2002 Cavener completed postgraduate studies at Ohio State University , which she completed with a Master of Fine Arts in fine arts (focus on ceramics ). In order to further develop her artistic work and to look for a conceptual connection between working with clay and her interest in human psychology and social structures, Cavener spent the time before and after completing her master's degree learning under various sculptors and later as an artist in Residence to operate. The latter also enabled her to stay abroad, including Jingdezhen in China (2008), Certaldo in Italy (2012) at La Meridiana Ceramica School and a year later in the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Shigaraki, Japan (2013).

Cavener opened a professional studio in Helena (Montana) in 2014 under the name “Studio 740” to look after young, aspiring artists. This gives them the opportunity to take part in a teaching program under Cavener. In order to be able to support the artists who are temporarily staying in Studio 740, Cavener has set up an ongoing campaign for the crowdfunding platform Patreon .

It is Cavener's concern to draw attention to the lack of funding for young artists.

plant

Title: “The Question That Devours” Year: 2012 Dimensions: H 64 × W 35 × D 25 in. Materials: Stoneware, paint Installation: Wall Piece
"The Question That Devours"

Cavener's sculptures are to be understood as visual questions that deal with assumptions about human behavior. In this respect, the artist uses the work with clay and her sculptures as a second language that enables her to devote herself to topics, to address them without words and to make them accessible to the viewer.

Her work is about expressing human thoughts and emotions through the body language of animals . Real encounters with people serve as inspiration for the artist. Patterns of complicated, subliminal and unconscious gestures can be recognized in human as well as animal interactions , which reveal intention and motivation. For Cavener's compositions, the body language of the animals is a metaphor for these underlying patterns, which transforms the animal into a human, psychological portrait.

Central motifs in her works are conflict , sexuality and perception - perception of other people, but also her own perception as an artist. Accordingly, her sculptures are always self-portraits, the aim of which is to want to understand relationships and motivations of people and to observe and question oneself in this process.

The sculptures are a means to an end to this end, asking the viewer to engage in this process as well. Hence the use of animal sculptures, as the artist has made the experience that it is easier for viewers to feel empathy for animals. However, her sculptures are essentially human bodies that have been subtly transformed into other creatures. They have belly buttons, collarbones, human genitals, and surgical scars.

Her works are in numerous public collections and exhibitions, including the Honolulu Museum of Art , Arizona State University Art Museum , Chazen Museum of Art , Museum of Fine Arts, Houston , Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture , Racine Art Museum , the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Tennessee State Museum .

In the past, Cavener was represented by the Garth Clark Gallery and later the Claire Oliver Gallery in New York. After joining the Claire Oliver Gallery, she opened an exhibition on October 22, 2009 called "On Tender Hooks". In 2010 the exhibition "The Four Humors" followed, for which the artist's so-called humoral pathology served as inspiration. Her last exhibition with Claire Oliver, "Come Undone", was shown in the fall of 2012. Cavener is currently represented by the Jason Jacques Gallery in Manhattan and opened the exhibition "The Other" there in November 2017 with 5 new sculptures.

Development process

Beth working on "In Bocca al Lupo"
Beth at work on "In Bocca al Lupo"

The usual way of working at Cavener is to build solid sculptures on metal fittings based on ideas on a specific topic and corresponding paper sketches. Working with clay and metal fittings, especially in the early stages (the first 3–5 days), is an extremely physical process that requires the artist's full physical effort. She spends the following 2 months dividing a sculpture into smaller sections in order to be able to process the individual parts more easily. Each part is hollowed out so that a previously solid piece of clay only remains a shell a few centimeters thick. The individual parts are then hardened in a kiln and then reassembled into a sculpture using adhesives and epoxy resins , so that they can then be further processed in detail. Cavener usually paints the surface with special latex paint . This allows it to fill in seams after assembly and maintain the look and feel of the clay. She also uses the Terra Sigillata technique , which is how she achieves the luminous surface of her sculptures.

Awards

Exhibitions (selection)

Solo exhibitions

  • 2000 n / a , Acme Art Company, Columbus / USA
  • 2002 tremble, shiver , MFA Exhibition, Columbus / USA
  • 2003 | Animal Body, Human Space , Archie Bray Foundation, Helena / USA
  • 2004 ACC Grant Exhibition , Contemporary Crafts Museum Portland / USA

Group exhibitions

  • 2003 ANA 32, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
  • 2003 Wichita National 2003, Second Place, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
  • 2004 As I See Myself: autobiographical Art, Kentucky Museum of Art and Design, Louisville, KY
  • 2005 NCECA 2005 Exhibition, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 2007 From the Ground Up: The 2007 Renwick invitational, The Smithsonian Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington DC
  • 2012 Sources and Influences, The Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
  • 2012 2012 NCECA Invitational: Push Play, The Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
  • 2014 "The Human Condition," Chazen Museum of Art, Madison,
  • 2014 "Flow," Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
  • 2016 "Turn the Page: Ten Years of Hi-Fructose, The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach
  • 2016 "Objectify (Cultured Animal)," Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO

literature

  • Garth Clark, Ezra Shales, Lauren Redding: Human. The Art of Beth Cavener. FrescoBooks / SF Design, llc., New Mexico 2019, ISBN 978-1934491690 .
  • Peter Held: Innovation & Change. Ceramics from the Arizona State University Art Museum. Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe 2009, ISBN 0-9817957-3-0 .
  • Peter Held: A Human Impulse. Figuration from the Diane and Sandy Besser Collection. Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe 2008, ISBN 0-9777624-7-5 .
  • Jane Milosch: Beth Cavener Stichter. In: Jane Milosch, Suzanne Frantz (Ed.): From the Ground Up. Renwick Craft Invitational 2007. Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington 2007, ISBN 0-9790678-1-2 , pp. 45-58.
  • Jen Pappas: Come Undone. The Sculptures of Beth Cavener Stichter. In: Hi-Fructose. No. 26, 2013, pp. 86-97.
  • Judith S. Schwartz: Confrontational Ceramics. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2008, ISBN 978-0-8122-4139-6 , p. 92.
  • JL Shnabel: Veiled Lures. The Sculptures of Beth Cavener Stichter. In: Hi-Fructose. No. 16, 2012, pp. 38-43.

Web links

Commons : Beth Cavener  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

General

Video

reception

Development process

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short biography of Beth Cavener Stichter at the Art Museum of Arizona State University. Arizona State University, accessed December 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Short biography in "Trophies and prey. A Contemporary Bestiary." In: http://www.petersprojects.com/trophies-and-prey . Gerald Peters Contemporary, pp. 22f. , accessed on December 22, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Beth Cavener: CV. Retrieved December 22, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Beth Cavener: Studio 740. Accessed December 22, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Edith Garcia: Crowdfunding. Ceramics Monthly, January 5, 2018, accessed December 22, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Beth Cavener: Studio 740: a place to bring like-minds together. Retrieved December 22, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Gessato Interview 2012. May 11, 2012, accessed on December 23, 2019 (English).
  8. ↑ Arcanalogue Interview 2009. October 29, 2009, accessed on December 23, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Natural Unnatural Supernatural - Exhibition. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  10. ↑ ASU Art Museum - Ceramics Collection (Fig. 19). Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Beth Cavener Sculptures in the Chazen Museum of Art. Accessed December 21, 2019 .
  12. ^ "The Inquisitors" in the MFAH. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  13. ^ Exhibition: Art for the New Millenium. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  14. ^ Exhibition: Beasts: Wild Animals in RAM's Collection. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Beth Cavener in the SAAM. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Menagerie: Beth Cavener and Shelley Reed. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  17. ^ Virginia A. Groot Award. Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  18. ^ Artist Trust (artist profile). Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Stichter, Beth Cavener
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cavener, Beth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Pasadena , California