Phyllis Rosser

I've been exploring the visual patterns of nature in abstract as well as figurative forms for more than 25 years. I was inspired to make sculpture using the grains and textures of weathered wood that I picked up during walks on the beaches of the Jersey Shore near my home. Later, I began collecting driftwood from the banks of the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, Vermont, assembling limbs and branches into large abstract wall-hung sculptures that invite contemplation. The wood, stripped of its bark and washed smooth by the water where I find it, is woven into dense layers that reveal the beauty produced by the ravages of time. The energy created by the unique patterns of the wood grain becomes a surrogate for my emotions, allowing me to express them without specific reference. I enjoy transforming and revaluing a material which is often considered refuse into an object that is beautiful and alive. The pieces become the focus of meditation, similar to the contemplation of a Buddhist thangka.

My powerful constructions of wall-hung sculptures were complimented by a new found interest in painting the natural world in micro focus about 15 years ago. Flowers and gardens give me the opportunity to explore the extravagance of nature in both it's diverse forms and intense color. My sculpture and paintings have similar intertwining and overlaid elements. The sweeping, undulating lines of the sculpture are echoed in the linear flow of the paintings. And both try to express the beauty and sensuality in the sublimeness of nature.

My work has been viewed in 15 solo shows and a number of group exhibitions in the New York area. It is represented in the collections of artists, curators and corporations including Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson as well as the Smith College Museum of Art. New York Times critic Barry Schwabsky has said the intertwining of my wood pieces "recall the muscular brush strokes of Abstract Expressionist painters like Joan Mitchell or Willem de Kooning - sculptural objects with pictorial space."