Phyllis
Kulmatiski
Our Lady of the Bees
clay fired to cone 6, 50" x 15" x 18", $3,200 |
Phyllis
Kulmatiski
GALLERY VI
Phyllis Kulmatiski is aware of the fact that her childhood, steeped
as it was in cultural traditions, was a major influence on the artist
she is today. Her sculptures are, she says, parodies of beautiful
Madonnas and sad reliquaries. "I grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn,"
Kulmatiski explains, "and went to a Polish Catholic elementary
school, bumping into piously silent statues of saints and martyrs
at every turn." Her current sculptures – often life-size
– are her attempt to "tell the stories of people who
brave hardship, suffer indignities, and somehow maintain their spirit."
Her goal is to make the pieces beautiful enough for people to look
at, even though they may represent something that people would rather
not look at. She and her husband live in Scotia, New York, where
she taught high school art classes for more than twenty years. |
