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The family has requested we share this event with the artworld, please attend if you are able. John will be speaking on behalf of the National Sculptors' Guild and Columbine Gallery. Celebration of Life for Carol Gold January 28, 2023, 11 a.m. at the Pavilion in Fairfax, California The Pavilion is located at: 142 Bolinas Road, Fairfax CA 94930  Carol Gold working on "Time" in 2010 The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations are made in Carol’s honor to Democracy Now! KPFA, The Sierra Club, the Marin Land Trust or Planned Parenthood.
click here to read our other posts if you would like to learn more about Carol.
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The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations are made in Carol’s honor to Democracy Now! KPFA, The Sierra Club, the Marin Land Trust or Planned Parenthood. The National Sculptors’ Guild installed 18 public art placements in 2020, truly a triumph for the challenges we all faced in the year. We are excited to have several new projects set to install in 2021 that we will be sharing in the near future.
Our 2020 public art placements are... (click titles to learn more) My Heart is in Your Hands, Jane DeDecker, Downey, CA Homeward/Monarch, Joe Norman, Downey, CA Mock Orange, Michael Warrick, Whittier, CA Time, Carol Gold, Bend, OR Between the Lines, Jane DeDecker, Loveland, CO Leaps and Bounds, Daniel Glanz, Brighton, CO Sweet Dreams & Grassland Trio, Daniel Glanz, Brighton, CO Mockingbird Tree, Michael Warrick, Southlake, TX On a Roll, Jack Hill, Downey, CA From a Different Perspective, Jane DeDecker, Downey, CA Infinite Dance, Carol Gold, Downey, CA Tree of Life, Clay Enoch, Downey, CA Burro Trio, Jane DeDecker, Southlake, TX Bamboo, Tim Cotterill (The Frogman), Joplin, MO Keeping the Ball Rolling, Jane DeDecker, Edmond, OK On a Roll, Jack Hill, Edmond, OK Rev. Pond, Denny Haskew, Shakopee, MN Tried and True, Gary Alsum, Edmond, OK We've now placed 530 public art monuments since 1992! Special thanks to all the people that helped make these placements happen, from fabrication to transport and installation, everyone pulled together in a time we had to stay apart.
#SculptureIsATeamSport #PublicArt #California #Texas #Missouri #Oklahoma #Minnesota #Oregon #Colorado #InstaArt #InstaGood #InstaLove #NSG #NationalSculptorsGuild #ArtistDriven #ClientMinded
The National Sculptors' Guild is in Downey, California today, installing four public art sculptures. It’s going well and the artwork looks fantastic in place. Thanks NSG Fellow Clay Enoch for the extra help! #PublicArt #NationalSculptorsGuild #SculptureIsATeamSport #CarolGold #NSG #DowneyCa #Sculpture #Installation  7/20/2020: Coming soon to Downey, California... "Infinite Dance" by Carol Gold has been cast at Art Castings of Colorado and awaits its installation in California. This sculpture is part of a series of Public Art placements that the City has commissioned from the National Sculptors' Guild for installation in 2020. The larger than life bronze abstract figure joyfully dances on the top of a stainless-steel ring. The shape of a circle holds deep symbolism, referring to concepts such as: inclusion, unity, wholeness and infinity. The overall 14-foot tall piece will be placed on Downey Avenue as soon as we can safely install. Carol's siblings have been inspired by her sculpture, below are their creations.
 Installed Today! The National Sculptors' Guild completed installing Carol Gold's 13-foot sculpture "Time" in Bend, Oregon earlier today. Below are some images from the installation. "Time" depicts a stylized figure running atop a large wheel, alluding to travel, as well as, the ceaseless movement of the clock. The implied motion of the sculpture reflects the energetic and playful mood of city life. The bronze figure measures 6 feet high, 4.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet deep. The 7-ft diameter circular ring is fabricated from rectangular rolled stainless steel tubing. More images to follow once landscaping is complete.  UPDATE 6/5/2020: Carol Gold and the National Sculptors' Guild are preparing to install "Time" in Bend, Oregon this summer. "Time" depicts a stylized figure running atop a large wheel, alluding to travel, as well as, the ceaseless movement of the clock. The implied motion of the sculpture reflects the energetic and playful mood of city life. The bronze figure measures 6 feet high, 4.5 feet wide and 3.5 feet deep. The 7-ft diameter circular ring will be fabricated from rectangular rolled stainless steel tubing. The monument has been cast and assembled at the world-renowned bronze foundry, Art Castings of Colorado. The bronze figure patinaed in warm tones with coppery brown skin and a rich chocolate brown on the clothing. The stainless steel ring features a sandblasted soft matte finish. The neutral colors of the sculpture will harmonize with nearby architecture and landscape. Time will appeal to all ages through its whimsically approachable design. At its substantial scale, the sculpture will create an eye-catching sculptural placement that will act as an identifiable landmark.  "Ah! The clock is always slow; it is later than you think." -- Robert Service (1874 - 1958)
 The National Sculptors' Guild is in Little Rock for this year’s Sculpture at the River Market and to install Carol Gold’s “Infinite Dance” Watch for more images of the finished product. #FeedYourCreativeSpirit #PublicArt Carol Gold's INFINITE DANCE proposal won the 2018 competition. Inspiration springs from notions of equilibrium and transformation, ideas that are necessary for the sustained health of society The joyfully dancing figure represents the vibrant cultural scene of the Riverfront Park. The sculpture’s ring shape ties into the curving bridges surrounding the site. The shape of a circle holds deep symbolism, referring to concepts such as: inclusion, unity, and wholeness. Loaded onto the truck at Art Castings of Colorado in Loveland with a beautiful custom crate by Shipper's Supply, "Infinite Dance" is on its way to its new home in Little Rock, Arkansas. #SculptureIsATeamSport see our post Little Rock Finalists Announced to learn more
 Update 4/27/18: Last night they announced our proposal of Carol Gold's Infinite Dance won this year's Sculpture at the River Market public art competition and will be placed within the year. The decision was made by attendees of A Night in the Garden - where sculpture grows. The Marriot and Vogel-Schwartz Garden looked amazing, filled with flowers and entertainers; including the Central High School Jazz Band, living sculptures, jugglers and other performers. Truly an Artful Experience! see our pics below...  The next Sculpture at the River Market competition winner will be selected April 26th click to vote With 2 of the 3 finalists, we can't wait to see who Little Rock picks. Here are our entries... Carol Gold's proposal is INFINITE DANCE, Inspiration springs from notions of equilibrium and transformation, ideas that are necessary for the sustained health of society The joyfully dancing figure represents the vibrant cultural scene of the Riverfront Park. The sculpture’s ring shape ties into the curving bridges surrounding the site. The shape of a circle holds deep symbolism, referring to concepts such as: inclusion, unity, and wholeness. Stephen Shachtman's GOLDEN becomes an interactive form as the viewer sees through the various negative space "windows" to the surrounding. Causing pause to their day to capture scenes of the city and river that they may otherwise pass-by. Three sculptors in competition for new creation to be placed in Little Rock
By Helaine Williams, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 04/24/18 Stephen Shachtman has come back for more... The Colorado artist won the 2017 Sculpture at the River Market commission competition for his piece A -- or, as he calls it, Arkansas A -- a steel and bronze sculpture that resembles the first letter of the alphabet and is being placed at the Southwest Community Center on Baseline Road in Little Rock. Now he's back in competition with Golden, a proposed 20-foot tall, abstract sculpture, resembling a gold three-dimensional hopscotch diagram. He hopes to create it have have it placed in Riverfront Park. He says, "There's a lot of positive and negative spaces" in Golden -- "almost looks like floating shapes in the sky. And I think without such a visual site and space, you wouldn't be able to get that." Shachtman is one of three sculptors who has made it to the finals in a competition resulting in a $60,000 commissioned sculpture to take its place in the western section of the park. Guests will have the opportunity to vote on the finalists' work at A Night in the Garden Where Sculpture Grows, 6:30-9 p.m. Thursday in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden and Riverview Room of the Little Rock Marriott. The event will include heavy hors d'oeuvres and beverages; the Central High School Jazz Band will be playing, along with roving entertainers. Docents will be in the Sculpture Garden to give information about the sculptures. Partygoers will also have a chance to buy a limited number of sculptures from the three finalists. Founded by city director Dr. Dean Kumpuris, Sculpture at the River Market is a nonprofit organization responsible for a collection of more than 90 pieces of public art, worth more than $4 million, in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden and other locations in the city. Sculpture at the River Market has held competitions for public art since 2011. Other past winners include Clay Enoch (2016) for United, installed at Central High School; Michael Warrick (2015) for Mockingbird Tree, installed at Chenal Parkway and Chenal Valley Drive; Lorri Acott (2014) for Peace, installed at Second and Main streets; and Ted Schaal (2013) for Open Window, installed in Riverfront Park. SAFE, 3-D PUBLIC ART Artists competing this year had to design "a visually interesting, safe, three-dimensional public art piece," according to the Sculpture in the Garden website. The finalists -- interviewed by phone for this story -- were announced Feb. 19 via email notification. They had to prepare a presentation board of their art proposals; these boards will be on display at the party. At the end of the event, the proposal receiving the highest vote totals will be named the commission winner. Shachtman, whose Red Monolith sculpture resides in Riverfront Park, couldn't pass up the opportunity to possibly place another piece of art there. His work, spanning two decades, has included curved textured metal -- hammered and in open mosaic patterns combined with glass -- as well as his current strong, rectangular shapes with circular pops of color. "I know the Vogel Schwartz Garden is just getting revamped and I was really interested in placing a large scale piece in that vicinity as well," he says. His proposed piece, he feels, would be ideal. "It's bigger than the Red Monolith; it's taller and wider than the Arkansas A. And I think for the site it fits really well, especially with kind of its medium as far as large-scale abstraction." Finalist Carol Gold, a California-based artist, has been at her craft some 50 years, running a foundry with a friend for 12 of them. She has participated in the competition for a number of years. Her sculpture Fiesta, depicting two dancing women, is at Clinton Presidential Park. Gold's preferred medium is wax, which is then cast in bronze. Her competition piece, Infinite Dance, is a figure of a lone woman, arms outstretched, one foot raised, the other resting on an open-circle base. It's "one of my favorite pieces," Gold says. "To me the circle implies infinity. And the woman dancing on top of the circle is just a graceful figure." ART WITH A SMILE Gold isn't the only finalist whose work celebrates rhythmic movement. Third finalist Giuseppe Palumbo, who works from studios in California and Colorado, has proposed Bliss and Glee, whimsical sculptures of two merry sheep, dancing on their hind legs. "Ultimately, I'm trying to create an experience," Palumbo says. "I sculpt a lot of different pieces, but what I've found is that people want to feel positive and happy. And if I can create that for somebody in a small way, that's my objective." The initial concept for the two-figure piece is one base; if chosen, he will consider separate bases if appropriate. Palumbo has worked in a number of mediums, "and I enjoy all of them," he says. "I particularly love clay, and the earthiness of it -- just malleable in your hands ... I can get into a nearly meditative state working with it." After he works his magic with clay, his pieces are cast in bronze. If he wins the competition, he says, Bliss and Glee will be a modest 4-and-a-half feet tall on a 12 to 18-inch base. "Then it will be interacting more with guests on a an eye level, and then the base could be utilized as a seating area." He adds, "There's a fine line between these animals. You want to keep them welcoming and not menacing." Style on 04/24/2018 http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/apr/24/art-with-vision-20180424/  We successfully installed "Conversation" by National Sculptors' Guild fellow Carol Gold with a unique granite base designed by John Kinkade at the First Congregational Church in Boulder. Thanks to Art Castings of Colorado for their extra help during the complex installation. This sculpture, by California artist Carol Gold, is of two stylized figures seated on a granite bench. The bench is extended to invite gathering next to the sculpture and a “joining the conversation.” John had to design something that was elegant, user-friendly and would span the weight-load all while floating on this second story plaza that didn't allow a typical anchoring installation method. with our engineer's help, we achieved a great functional look. Many of my artworks depict interaction through some of some sort of communication. The inspiration for much of my work comes from a poem by Pablo Neruda in which he writes – “No hablar es morir entre los seres”, or, “Not to speak is to die among human beings”. I have used this recurrent theme of communication in my work for years. The spoken word (or lack thereof) is inherent in our successes and failures as a society. We are bound as a civilization by means of contact with each other. By interacting with those around us, communities grow and prosper through their ideas, thoughts and histories. I am well aware of the power of communication and its importance in maintaining the equilibrium that we must maintain for a healthy society. I have a great deal of experience placing my work publicly thanks to the expertise of the National Sculptors’ Guild. Our installation of “Conversation” on the plaza will be the only one in Colorado. The Landmark Board has approved it and has commended us on our adding to the public art of Boulder. " -Carol Gold, National Sculptors' Guild
"We are delighted to introduce you to the nationally renowned sculptor, Carol Gold, whose sculpture, “Conversation,” has been commissioned for the church thanks to a generous gift designated for this purpose. We are excited that this one-and-a-quarter lifesize sculpture will be installed toward the south end of our plaza, “humanizing” this large expanse and making it more welcoming. There are of course many layers of meaning that can be derived from the sculpture, but as members of the Arts Ministry, we have been struck by the thoughts of our church’s interest in inviting people to join the conversation of faith, no matter where you are on the journey. We also feel the sculpture expresses our church’s openness to dialogue, our call to community, and the ongoing conversation of faith with the events of our lives and the life of the world. It is also significant that the reason the church has received the gift of these sculptures at all is because of a deeply meaningful conversation that our Senior Minister, Rev. Martie McMane, held for the donor’s husband and his family a week before his death. We invite you to ponder your own meanings for this beautiful work of art." -First Congregational Church of Boulder Arts Ministry National Sculptors' Guild successfully installed Carol Gold's "Time" on the campus of North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, Michigan thanks to a private donor.
Master Plan Design by National Sculptors' Guild Executive Director John Kinkade John Kinkade began working on this project (our first with the City of Little Rock, Arkansas) in 2003, the selected design and artwork was actualized, placed and dedicated November, 2004. Since then*, we have placed over 100 public artworks in Little Rock *12/2015. Below are excerpts from Kinkade's preliminary proposal. Kinkade chose to pull key elements from President Clinton’s speech “Bridge to the 21st Century” to organize the progression to the library. He proposed numerous individual concepts by 14 national sculptors reflecting each theme. The Little Rock committee chose the six final artworks. The artwork speaks to Arkansas’ quality of life and thematic subject matter derived from President Clinton’s speech “Bridge to the 21st Century”. Click here to see more on this placement
Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004 "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature." Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says. She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read." Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos." TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says. Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK. THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains. In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls. When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning." In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity. Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says. Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Loveland`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer. Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way. Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery and the National Sculptors' Guild, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM. ILLUSTRATIONS EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½. FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9. CAROL GOLD ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8. CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6. KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9. AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art. COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. |
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![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/embrace-2003.jpg)
![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/fiesta-2003.jpg)
![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/1carol-photo.jpg)
![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/art-talk1.jpg)
![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/celebration-01.jpg)
![Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art Jul 01, 2004
Sculptor Carol Gold wrings strong emotions from her sleek bronze figures
EVERY JANUARY, California sculptor Carol Gold settles into her studio to begin the year anew with fresh ideas for her bronze pieces and a chunk of soft, hot wax with which to give them shape. Her ideas about the forms that will occupy her heart and hands over the next 12 months have percolated in her thoughts to some degree, but arise mostly from the unconscious, Gold says.
She squeezes, manipulates, and molds the wax, roughing in shapes as figures emerge-some large, some small, some flat, some rounded. Most of her forms represent the human figure, with the exception of a horse or two. "I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature," Gold explains from her airy, 770-square-foot studio perched on a hillside in Northern California. "My work is also informed by what`s going on in the world and what I read."
Last year, for instance, Gold says her work was directly affected by the turmoil in the world, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events leading up to it. "I had this feeling all last year that what I needed to do was create tranquil pieces," she says. "Some artists may respond to what`s going on in the world with anger, but I just can`t do that. I needed my sculptures to be an antidote to the chaos."
TRANQUILITY and EMBRACE, both created in 2003, are two of her most peaceful pieces-ones that Gold describes as "calm and loving." In TRANQUILITY, a relaxed figure sits staring into space as if looking out a window on a beautiful day. In EMBRACE, two people wrap their arms around each other in a display of tender affection. The latter bronze also is an example of how Gold is influenced by what she reads. After finishing the book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning [2003 ANCHOR] by Chris Hedges, the sculptor was deeply moved by one of the points the author kept stressing. Hedges, a veteran war correspondent for The New York Times, explains in the book that while covering many wars and trying to survive in various war zones-including being ambushed in Central America and imprisoned in the Sudan-the only place he ever felt safe was in the home of a loving couple or family. "EMBRACE came out of that sense of a safe place in the midst of war," Gold says.
Of the many themes woven through Gold`s work, perhaps the most common is communication. Her sculptures often include two figures as in EVENING WALK, ARTTALK, and FIESTA. The moods the sculptor evokes in these twosomes are amazingly varied-from the contemplative, restful depiction of a couple strolling in EVENING WALK to the joyous dance captured in FIESTA. Gold manages to squeeze living, breathing emotion out of cold, hard bronze, whether it`s tenderness of spirit as in EMBRACE or the arrogant poses of two figures in ART TALK.
THERE ARE FEW CLUES in Gold`s sophisticated pieces to reveal her personal roots. Her sleek, contemporary figures are a far artistic cry from growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. About the only trace of her childhood that a viewer glimpses is through the horses that emerge in her work every now and then. As a girl, Gold spent countless hours riding through the countryside, enjoying the calm and solitude. "I would get on my horse, and all of my anxieties would melt away," she recalls. Today her bronze equines are remnants of those bygone days. Now, as then, the horses represent freedom to the artist. "They were my only mode of escape as a child," she explains.
In addition to a fondness for roaming the countryside on her horse, Gold`s other main interests in her youth were drawing and poring over her parents` book on the history of painting. "At one point my mom gave me art lessons, but I was always more interested in animals," she recalls.
When she headed to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Gold was bent on studying veterinary medicine. But her entire world spun in a different direction one day when she signed up for an art history class. After a few hours in class, she was sure that all she ever wanted to pursue was art. Gold quickly changed her major to art and architecture but encountered some rocky patches in subsequent classes. She wanted to learn more about technique, but it was fashionable in the art department then to focus on self-expression. Married at the time, Gold and her husband moved to Boston, MA, after three years at Cornell. She transferred to Boston University, where her artistic desires were met with a more welcome attitude in the fine-arts department. "It was a breath of fresh air," Gold says. "I just wanted to learn the basics like stretching canvas and printmaking first, just the tools I needed in the beginning."
In 1968 Gold moved to California, where she has remained ever since. When her four children were young, she worked at their elementary school as an assistant to a sculpting teacher. By 1972 she was sculpting full time, working first with clay. Three-dimensional forms have always held more allure for Gold, moving her in a way that painting and other two-dimensional artworks have failed to do. Likewise, figures in art have usually had an emotional impact on her, while nonobjective art rarely engages her with quite the same intensity.
Gold`s work has evolved over the past two decades as she moved from clay to wax about 10 years ago. "Clay was too earthbound," she says. "Wax gives me a chance to be more expressive in my forms." While experimenting with wax she has developed a technique for incorporating pieces of burlap, which allows her to fully realize one of what she calls her "two basic sculpting vocabularies"-flat, nude figures and draped figures. Because wax is easier to manipulate than clay, the material goes a long way in helping Gold convey emotions and mood. And using wax enables her to "sketch in" figures rapidly when her ideas are taking shape at the beginning of the year. The sculptor creates about 30 such shapes, but by the end of the year only six or seven will survive and be cast in bronze. "They need to really strike me as far as the mood I am trying to convey, or I will throw them away," she says.
Another signature Gold element is the stunningly rich patinas on her bronze pieces, in colors that range from earthy gold and copper tones to various shades of turquoise that often evoke a southwestern flavor. As this story went to press, the sculptor was preparing works for the prestigious Sculpture in the Park show, held every August in Loveland, CO [see page 74]. Her piece FIESTA is also scheduled for installation in Lovelanci`s Benson Sculpture Park this summer.
Gold isn`t fond of speculating about what ideas she will explore in the future, except to say that communication is always a reoccurring theme. For now, she`s content to read, share opinions, pay attention to the world at large, and have faith that when a hunk of wax is set before her, her unconscious will light the way.
Gold is represented by Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR; Savage Stephens Contemporary Art Works, Carmel, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and New York, NY; and Columbine Gallery, Loveland, CO, and Santa Fe, NM.
SIDEBAR
"I think inspiration comes from a lot of places-from where I am emotionally as well as from nature."
ILLUSTRATIONS
EMBRACE, BRONZE, 14 × 7 × 3 ½.
FIESTA, BRONZE, 29 ½ × 36 × 9.
CAROL GOLD
ART TALK, BRONZE, 17 × 15 × 8.
CELEBRATION, BRONZE, 19 ½ × 12 × 6.
KOBILA, BRONZE, 23 × 25 × 9.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION
Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor of Southwest Art.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jul 2004. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27284499/kobila.jpg)
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