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Art representing two worlds

By Tara Rack-Amber trackamber@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Pittsburgh-based ceramic artist Angela Biederman will showcase her work at the exhibition “Body in the Landscape of the Mind” running until Aug. 27 at the 707 Penn Gallery located at 707 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh. (Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.)

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“I didn’t want to use pedestals for this work. I wanted it to be in a sort of environment that wasn’t a white cube. So I would use different types of media that was in a large scale,”explained Angela Biederman on her exhibition “Body in the Landscape of the Mind” now on display at 707 Penn Gallery. (Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.)

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Angela Biederman, a Pittsburgh-based ceramic artist, said that she had tapped into her relationship for inspiration for the sculptures that are a part of the “Body in the Landscape of the Mind.” (Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.)

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“I want them (visitors) to the gallery, I guess, to see how ceramics can be integrated with other media and see it in a much more sculptural sense,” said Angela Biederman. “Most people know ceramics have a very crafty foundation and it was used for years and years to make pottery and functional ware and I use it in a very sculptural way.”1

For Pittsburgh-based ceramic artist Angela Biederman, inspiration for her latest exhibition, “Body in the Landscape of the Mind,” came from two sources.

“I suppose I would say, largely, relationships and the landscape,” she said.

In addition to creating the actual sculpture itself, Biederman wanted to create an object that would serve as the piece’s display.

“I didn’t want to use pedestals for this work. I wanted it to be in a sort of environment that wasn’t a white cube. So I would use different types of media that was in a large scale,” she said. “I also read this book called “Wanderlust: A History of Walking” by Rebecca Solnit, and she sort of talked about walking and relating the mind to the landscape and how these formations develop. Some of those parts of that book gave me the inspiration of thinking that the mind is the latest of the landscape.”

Biederman “Body in the Landscape of the Mind” is currently on display through Aug. 27 at 707 Penn Gallery located at 707 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, with a special talk with the artist scheduled for 6 p.m. July 28.

The exhibition will feature six sculptures comprised of at least two elements: the landscape and the ceramic sculpture. The sculpture will represent the body and the support structure will represent the landscape of the mind.

“When I traverse the landscape, I am engaged in my environment, and simultaneously have the freedom to let musings enter, remain and develop in my mind. The features in the landscape correlate to these encounters and abandonments, and the unpredictable discoveries found in both nature and thought arouse curiosity, astonishment and a sense of calm in me. It is this same experience that I undergo when making art, and attempt to ultimately uphold in final form,” said Biederman in a press release from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

In preparation for the exhibition, that was originally shown at Kent State University as part of her thesis, Biederman began the rebuilding of one of the exhibit’s featured structures.

“I am actually rebuilding one of the structures in the show. It is a piece that is built on site, and it will dry throughout the time it is here on the gallery. It will dry and change and crack and things will happen to it that I can’t predict,” she explained. “It isn’t just putting pictures up on the wall, it has me physically engaged. There is a lot of muscle, and heart and soul that goes into it. It will be different than how it was the first time. What I really like about this show is that I used a lot of materials that I haven’t worked with in a long time. Wood, rope, Styrofoam, found objects. I really like that about this body.”

Admission to the gallery, that is a sister gallery to SPACE and Wood Street Galleries, is free.

“I want them (visitors) to the gallery, I guess, to see how ceramics can be integrated with other media and see it in a much more sculptural sense,” she said.

“Most people know ceramics have a very crafty foundation and it was used for years and years to make pottery and functional ware and I use it in a very sculptural way. I think it is very exciting in contemporary art and helping people see that.”

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