Madeleine Lord

Artist Statement

I have welded figures from steel scraps for over 20 years. There is a massive steel yard near Boston and they 'grandmothered' me in to gather my raw materials which are often curved and twisted from the massive equipment used to sort and stack it. Jacques Kaplan of the Caboose Gallery in Kent Connecticut displayed my work in an exhibit titled: Avant Garde Classicism. I attended Smith College class of '70 where the Rodin Walking Man strode nowhere outside the library. The massive heroic stance, unresolved surface treatment must have percolated through my work. My figures may be from classic stories or the news. Other influences are the linear minimalism of Alberto Giacometti and often headless or armless figures of Magdalena Abakanowicz. I draw with steel and air, unlike classical sculpture I am not managing a surface result but a three dimensional drawing. When jurists leave a comment they most often mention my figures are in motion, and appear to be arriving or leaving.