September 2005: Darlene Schaper sculptures
Darlene Schaper's sculptures are created from a mix of found medias and low-fire ceramics. Her surfaces are a contrast of a skin-like encaustic wax, set against the coarse, aged textures of nostalgic patterns. These are then brought to life with the bright colors of contemporary intensity. Integrated with the clay are other materials such as metal, found objects, and fabric. Schaper's work is intended to attract the viewer with its playfulness and humor, and recoil, as its dark commentary becomes evident. Incorporating pop culture causes the objects to be familiar but she is using them for their associative qualities. She creates imagery of the physiological, an undiscovered world of her dreams, that celebrates her attraction to an alternative world of fantastical creatures that do as they please. This is a surrogate place where loss and pain are triumphed in the most unusual way.