Moana Ponder

Artist Statement

MOANA PONDER

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

The kinship with all things artistic seems to have been with me from the first moments I had conscious thought. My father was an artist and all my childhood was spent with art materials and art books of every type. Inevitably I began to produce works of my own. In the early years of my life learning the techniques and language of artistic expression occupied most of my attention. Later I became conscious of other forces shaping my work.

For several years after I was married, art took a back seat in my life but it became like a hunger to produce again. At first I went back to pastel and painting, which had been my first love. But a friend who was a sculptor encouraged me to widen my horizons and take in the third dimension. While admiring the masters of sculpture, I never had a desire to try it before but to please my friend I tried it. It was a Eureka! Moment that completely changed my whole perception of art in general and myself as as an individual artist. It freed me as if I had been bound and didn't know it. A whole new energy flowed through my hands and I felt I had finally found my voice.

Today I produce mostly bronze sculpture cast in the classic lost wax process. Usually the subject is a female figure but the theme or inspiration for the piece is either something to do with the natural world and environment or something more introspective like the growth and development of the inner person as it is shaped by life events. I like to use subtle symbolism in the gestures and details. Because I had years of training in dance, there is an underlying rhythm and grace that I try to capture in each piece.

The world around us is full of things of exquisite beauty but sadly it is also full of horrors of unimaginable ugliness. It is my desire to produce works of beauty that can bring moments of peace and tranquility to the mind and heart. A bit of respite perhaps from the hectic pace of modern life.