BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.- Williamsburg Art & Historical Center presents “Mercurial: Works of Art in Metal by Gloria Kisch, Daniel Rothbart and Tamiko Kawata,” on view through November 30, 2003.  Gloria Kisch - Bells started in 2000 how they began and why is somewhat of an enigma. Inspired by nature, the soaring of birds against the sky, water standing still, ancient trees telling silent stories. As much as my octopi series are of the earth Bells are of the skies. 

Bells were born from my thorough immersion in the wild, the animal kingdom and my observation of the endless horizon. Bells allude to the cosmic, and the balance of the powers. Like Buddhist sounds they are atonal and have their own vocabulary of form and sound. Stainless is used to create them because it is a metal that never changes and is almost indestructible. Bells incorporate in one body of work my interest in sculpture and functional art. Suddenly it all comes together, my early musical training, my immersion in form, my interest in other realities.  

Bells ringing in my ears they ring they ring they ring.

Bells ringing in my ears they sing they sing they sing. 

Daniel Rothbart - Artist’s Statement - I seek to emulate patterning, repetition, and growth in nature with the unnatural medium of welded aluminum. The plants of New York City are necessarily strong, having to compete with poured concrete, steel girders, and pane glass. At times the urban botany of my sculpture combines a soft undulating form with a sharp Darwinian edge. My objects derived from trees explore the relationship between branches as complex structures. Linear elements seem to grow outward, intersecting one another, to create a sense of depth, like what one might experience in a forest. The regular geometry of growth is conditioned by the tree’s environment and chance relationships to other situations in nature. As a result, the trees and my sculptural constructions reflect a paradoxical order in chaos. 

Tamiko Kawata  - Artist’s Statement - I like to use hidden or unrecognized, valuable but overlooked things from our daily life for my works. I often choose materials that relate to my life closely such as safety pins, toilet paper, discarded cardboard rolls chewing gums etc, etc. I have been using safety pins since I arrived from Japan, out of necessity to shorten all-too-long American clothing. 

My interpretation is influenced by the differences that I experience between life in America and Japan. Unconsciously I continually compare these two cultures and without being aware my Japanese sensibility appears. My works often use repetition and I like to create energy, sometimes chaos, within quiet stillness.