Alix Anne Shaw

Artist Statement

I think of my work as a process of weirding space in order to challenge our predominant modes of encounter. I am particularly interested in creating work that fosters a sense of active investigation, imagination, and discovery.

The work seen here draws attention to the connection between sculptural materials and the materiality of the human body. In What We Were, a combination of cast paper, fiberglass, steel, and optic lenses moves gently in response to the viewer's presence in the gallery space. This work draws attention to the act of witnessing and the idea of changing perspectives, even as it suggests captivity, dismemberment, and the process of recollection. Similarly, Not Your Bride resists the idea of marriage by drawing on traditional associations of sacrament and sacrifice. Each of these works uses paper to emphasize the fragility of our own bodies and beings.

As an artist, I find it important to maintain a strong connection to the landscape in which I am working. Whenever possible, I use materials drawn from local sites. It is important to me to maintain a sensitivity to the impacts of the work on the natural environment and on the human beings passing through it. My work asks those who encounter it to slow down and pay attention. Co-opting, disrupting, destabilizing, opposing, holding forth, building small fires of meaning and protest in the cracks—this is what I want my work to achieve.