Hot Wax & Hot Glass/Sequential Perceptions
Audio Tour
Welcome to the Gadsden Arts Center and the current exhibitions Hot Wax & Hot Glass, works by artists Leslie Neumann and Susan Gott, and Sequential Perceptions, sculpture by Russell Bellamy. This audio tour will offer a short biography of our three featured artists, and discuss several of the paintings and sculptures on view in the galleries. The reference sheet provided with this audio tour will direct you the location of each work of art.
To begin, enter the Sara May Love Gallery to view Hot Wax & Hot Glass. Both artists in this exhibition use their mediums and processes as tools for expression, with mystical and mythical inspirations. For Leslie Neumann, working with encaustic allows her to build up layers of oil paint and wax, and then scrape away designs to develop energetic, cosmic works of art. Inspired by nature, both that which we can see and that at the cellular and cosmic levels, Neumann’s works have an illuminated, jewel-like glow. For Susan Gott, mythological imagery and symbolism is a source of inspiration. Her works explore the beauty of life, particularly through philosophies from historic and ancient cultures. Gott works in cast glass, a process involving ladling molten glass directly from a 2300-degree furnace into molds, with image and symbol inclusions added with absolute precision. The original mold is destroyed once the glass has cooled, thereby making each piece one-of-a-kind.
Susan Gott creates in her glass studio near Tampa, while Leslie Neumann finds inspiration from the nature that surrounds her home in Aripeka, Florida. After being randomly paired together for an exhibition at the Morean Art Center in St. Petersburg, Neumann and Gott created several collaborative pieces. As you look around the gallery, notice that many of Leslie Neumann’s works incorporate blown glass, particularly in her cosmic series found in the front of the gallery.
First, let’s look closely at the Cosmic Series by Leslie Neumann. The first piece we’ll discuss is found in the front right corner of the gallery, next to the display case. Look for Celestial Cousins, a large piece with four glass orbs attached to the surface. This work is abstract, with a hint of a realistic, infinite universe. The dreamy painting style is reflected in the subtle blending of the warm tones–orange, brown, white, tan, and hints of red stand out. Although these colors appear smoothly blended from far away, as you move closer to the surface, rich textures appear–carving patterns that were pressed into the surface of the wax as it cooled. In some parts of the canvas, there are splatters of color, seemingly dripped on the canvas without precision. The entire work looks as though several layers of wax and paint have been added, and indeed they have.
Encaustic is a unique medium that allows the artist to create paintings with a sculptural quality. For Leslie Neumann, this process first involves making a sketch on a wood panel with oil paint. This under-painting helps to set the mood of the piece, determine the color palette, and composition. Next, Neumann adds hot wax, to which she adds another layer of oil paint. This process of oil paint on hot wax is often repeated for several layers. Marks and symbols are then incised or carved from the layers of paint and wax, creating a luminous, textured surface. As Leslie Neumann creates, she stands close to the piece to build the layers of color, and frequently hangs it on a wall to stand back and see the piece as a whole.
Together with all the visual interest of the layers of encaustic, one of the work’s most interesting features is in the four glass-blown orbs. Susan Gott created these blown glass orbs in her glass studio specifically for this collaboration with Neumann. As the first of the cosmic series to incorporate glass, you may notice that the orbs are sitting on top of the panel, appearing as though they might fall off at any moment. In later works, the orbs are nested in the panel with holes that are drilled to secure the orbs.
Blown glass is made much like it sounds, by inflating molten glass through a blowpipe. Most glassblowing is done between 1,600 and 1,900°F. For Leslie Neumann, these glass orbs worked perfectly in her cosmic series. The orbs appear like planets, suns, or moons, swirling in space. Even with small amounts of bright teal and red, the painting is quiet and reflective. Leslie Neumann has commented that her interest in these contemplative cosmic pieces was probably prompted by her change in lifestyle after divorcing her husband. She also commented that she was undoubtedly influenced by the images of space coming from the Hubble telescope.
As a series, most of the cosmic works explore the same themes: quiet reflection of space, an openness, a sense of movement, and freedom. While inspired by photographs of space or views of the night sky from her home in Aripeka, Leslie Neumann does not work from source photos. In some ways, her works are her own source photos. Before we move on, take a close look at the three drips of yellow near the center of the panel and the grey orb above them.
The second piece we’ll look at is titled Sovereign and is found on the front left wall of the gallery. As you walk towards it, you may notice that it features the same three yellow drips and the grey or silver orb. In fact, all along this wall you will find examples of Leslie Neumann’s exploration of the cosmic theme. Glass orbs are both physically attached to the surface, and painted so that they appear to be orbs. Unlike the first orbs in Celestial Cousins, which have such a physical impact on the viewer as they press outwards, the painted orbs and the smaller clear orbs are unobtrusive and subtle. For example, in several of the pieces with smaller, clear glass orbs, you may notice as you walk by that you will see different images. Some have gold leaf on the back of the orbs, and the reflective surfaces of the orbs will change as you walk by.
Let’s talk a little about our encaustic artist, Leslie Neumann, and her background. Neumann received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts and her Masters in Painting from New York University. After living in New York City for 14 years, she moved in 1991 to the small fishing village of Aripeka on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. Neumann is an active environmentalist, and has worked with members of her community to preserve more than 14,000 acres of coastal lands. Living not quite on the Gulf of Mexico, but near it, Neumann describes her home in Aripeka as a quiet place surrounded by thousands of palm trees and a constant sound of wildlife. Before beginning the cosmic series, Neumann had spent a decade creating works in her wetlands series. Different both in subject and in palette from the quiet cosmic series, the wetlands series is hot, primitive, and passionate.
The third painting we’ll look at is Beauty Deep Within, one of the large paintings on the back right wall of the gallery. Unlike the cosmic series, which have a calming effect, the colorful, and dramatic works in the wetlands series demand the viewer’s attention. In this piece, there appears to be a vague horizon line across the center of the panel, and water below, reflecting a yellow and orange light. In the top portion of the panel, we see three tree forms, surrounded by green, orange, and blue tones. On top of those layers of color, we have two bright accents of red, and several yellow dots that drip across the top right quadrant of the panel. Although we seem to have a recognizable subject, landscape with trees, a stream or lake, and some hints at other natural elements, the subject is loosely described. The allusion to a landscape is in the three trees. Leslie Neumann has said, “I’m a landscape painter, but landscape is a loosely applied word, often just a starting point for me, as I sometimes venture beyond the terrestrial into the heavens for inspiration.” The yellow dots on the top right quadrant could be fireflies, but their large size seems nearly spiritual. The pops of red also bring us away from a traditional landscape, and into an abstracted view, a more passionate view of this luscious nature. It is soothing in the color choices and blending and designs in the encaustic, but it is not quiet.
The fourth set of works we’ll examine are another join effort between Leslie Neumann and Suan Gott. Back towards the front of the gallery, you’ll see five visually similar works, three wall pieces and two sculptures. As a collaboration, Susan Gott’s two glass pieces were designed to reflect the visual characteristics and elements of Leslie Neumann’s three Totem works. Vertically-oriented, these works are based on totems, or objects which are believed to have spiritual significance. In Susan Gott’s two pieces, you will notice that she uses a similar format: vertical sculptures featuring a longer rectangle and a smaller, red rectangle. Gott has used this visual language to create her own idea. Still a spiritual message, Gott’s pieces are titled Passageways, acting as doors to other spiritual worlds. She also uses some of her glass orbs in these pieces, wax by Leslie Neumann on the sides, and inclusions in the glass that we will see more closely in other works by Susan Gott.
Susan Gott has worked in glass for 30 years, specializing in cast glass to create one-of-a-kind sculptures. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Kent State University and Bachelor’s degree from Radford University. Gott currently lives in central Tampa, where she built and now operates her own Phoenix Glass Studio, a combination of studio and home.
Glass casting is an elaborate and labor-intensive process. Working from an initial drawing or design, Gott first creates a Styrofoam or similar template for the sculpture. Then, using a sand molding mixture, she carefully creates a mold, or a negative image of the piece. The original Styrofoam sculpture is then removed, revealing a negative cavity in which Gott adds colorations in the form of colored powders and other inclusions, such as previously made murrine glass. She then pours molten glass directly from a 2300-degree furnace into these handcrafted molds. This glass will need to cool for anywhere from 48 hours to a month depending on the size of the piece, after which Gott can smooth some of the surface, and add enamels, copper, gold leaf, patinas, and etching.
The large-scale sculptures in the gallery by Susan Gott reflect her interest in mythological imagery, symbolism, philosophies and histories from ancient cultures. To achieve this, many of the pieces reflect primitive shapes. They are statuesque, totemic figures that explore spirituality, existence, magic, and the beauty of life. One of the first things you may notice is that several of the figures are feminine shapes, as indicated by their hair and body shapes. Gott creates abstracted human forms as a vessel for a connection to spirituality. In each of these forms you’ll find several symbol inclusions. Let’s look closely at Wild Woman. This vertical figure represents a woman, with orbs and diamonds to identify female features. From bottom to top, the colorations change from red to yellow to green, and from around the center to the top a vibrant blue. These colors reference the seven main energy chakras of the body, such as red at the base, which grounds the spirit and green as the heart and soul consciousness. As you carefully walk around the sculpture, you may notice that this coloration is not fused into the glass. The glass is clear, and the colors are on the surface of glass. This is a consistent style with Susan Gott, as she adds colored, powdered pigment to the sand molds before pouring in the molten glass. She must also be sure that all the designs for the glass are carved into the sand mold before the work is cast, such as the protruding dots on the legs. This is when she would lay out the three “V” or chevron lines at the base of the sculpture. As you glance around the gallery, note that this pattern carries into many of her works, a symbol of birth, life and death.
Often in works like this, Gott includes pieces of glass she previously created , such as the diamond pattern in the center of Wild Woman. Patterns like this are called murrine. Murrine is an Italian term for a particular glass process. The glass artist creates canes, or long rods of glass often in circular or square patterns. When the glass is cut into cross-sections, the pattern is revealed. Gott uses this technique frequently, especially in works like Calendar Wheel. Each of the stars and moon inclusions found on this wheel comes from a cross-section of the murrina pattern. If you look closely, you can see the pattern dragging backwards from the surface, showing the size of the piece of glass that was placed in the mold before the glass was poured. This wheel is meant to reflect a Mesoamerican ball game, with references to the Mayan calendar along the edges. In this game, a ring hangs on a stone wall. The goal of the game was to pass the ball without using hands, through the ring. Because they could not use their hands and the ring was placed very high on the wall, it was extremely difficult. Often, the game was a solemn experience, filled with ritual importance, and was practiced in various versions by several pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America.
Let’s next discuss Spirit Hawk. The inspiration for this piece, which in turn has inspired several other iterations, was from an actual hawk that Susan Gott stumbled upon. While walking, she noticed the bird had just died, but had stayed in this particular pose, arms at its side, with an elongated pose. With her interest in different cultures, Gott preserved the hawk and went to research its significance with Native American culture, finding that as a spirit animal hawks are messengers of the spirit world, and have the wisdom of seeing situations from a higher perspective. Notice how this plays into the scale of the bird, who stands colossal, well over life size. Interestingly, birds symbolize freedom in many cultures, yet the hawk is in a very rigid pose, and as an extremely heavy glass piece with a concrete and steel base, she is also very difficult to move. She therefore appears more as a figure of a hawk, or a personification of a hawk in a protective pose.