Connie B. Burkhart at Abiquiú Dome Gallery
Tour Stop Number: 24Category: Gallery, Metal Arts, and Sculpture
Website: http://abiquiudome.com connieburkhart.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbiquiuDome/
Instagram Handle: @abiquiudome @conniebmetaldesigns
Email: info@abiquiudome.com
Mixed metal sculptures and designs with a spirited southwest influence
The inspiration for my metal designs flows from my love of the southwest and the prehistoric images I have encountered while exploring ancient canyon corridors. Finding treasures in piles of junk is true for me, especially regarding discarded rusty metal that has been tossed aside seemingly forgotten as no longer useful. Resurrecting ‘trash’ to new life also speaks to my soul. I have collected pieces twisted by floods, thrown on the roadside or left abandoned in an arroyo. This scrap becomes sculpture with unique beauty and new stories to tell. Worn shapes and surfaces of the ‘rescued’ pieces of scrap metal lend themselves to telling tales of times past. My designs are primitive in nature as I leave ‘drips’ of metal on cut edges, or rough surfaces of rust or past distress as a feature. I feel the ‘story’ of the metal speaks best when part of its past life are left intact. I use a mixture of metals and other elements to design pieces that emerge from my soul and in my studio I am surrounded by black mesas and red cliffs, where the echoes of ancient rhythms continue to provide me with limitless inspiration.