Rock your world marble. . . !! - Studio Visit with Elizabeth Turk

Elizabeth Turk Studio - OC

 

While on the hunt for inspiring sculpture at the Armory Show in NYC, I stumbled across an elegantly carved piece of marble, so delicate that it resembled ribbon.  

It belonged to artist Elizabeth Turk.  Instantly that name rang a bell, as she had done an artist residency in our very own Grand Central Art Center, Downtown Santa Ana. AND that happens to be where I called home while in grad school. Go GCAC.

The piece was astonishing.  That was when I set out to find her . . . not as easy as I had expected.  Eventually I managed to finagle her number out of someone (in the OC, I think there are even less than 6 degrees of separation between us all). Elizabeth Turk graciously invited me to her studio in Santa Ana to give the OC ArtBlog followers the inside scoop.  Totally amazing.

This swan-like woman with bright blue eyes escorted me around the property until we settled down at a piece in progress, one of her famous 'collars.'  As we spoke, those little hands went to work, filling away from the inside out of a piece so precarious that it quivered at the mere rubbing of a file.  Astonished I asked, "how delicate is that piece?"  (I was think. . . marble, stone, relatively break proof right?)  

Elizabeth explains that the process she utilizes to carve and the shapes rendered are the result of a balancing act based on the intimate relationship between the stone and the hand that carves it. Cracks can happen at any time and cause irrevocable damage. So if you are wondering, NO I did not touch anything.

 The process can take up to 2-3 years before arriving at completion, not to mention the care that is needed in construction of the base, the armature that the piece rests upon, and the transport/installation of the artwork to it's new home.

Elizabeth Turk has an incredible talent, of which she uses to combine classical marble carving techniques with contemporary themes in a way that maintains the integrity and reputation of crafts(wo)men and their trade.  

 

Even Michelangelo would be impressed with her creations.  Go Elizabeth!  We LOVE the work.  Thank you for inviting the OC Art Blog into your studio. We will keep you all updated on her pending exhibitions, in the mean time here is a link to her gallery Hirschl & Adler in New York.  

 

 

Enjoy,

Joanna

 

 

 

Comments

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It is really a great job. 2-3 years... I envy her patience.