Announcements

See Sedna at Zullo Gallery in Medfield Massachusetts – September 17th-November 5th

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Sedna
Sedna, goddess at the bottom of the sea

Sedna has been selected once again to appear in a juried show! This time it’s the Zullo Gallery Center for the Arts in Medfield, Massachusetts.  Juror Irena Roman, A.W.S. Professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, has selected Sedna for their 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition.

Here is the link for more information:Zullo Gallery Center for the Arts

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Legend of Sedna, Goddess of the Sea

Sedna is an Inuit legend about a sea goddess who becomes the mother of all sea creatures. According to the legend, Sedna lived on the Arctic with her parents.

Her father was a hunter and kept the family well fed and clothed. Sedna, content with her life, was reluctant to leave her parents, and she put off marrying as long as possible. She finally agreed to marry a man she thought would be a good hunter like her father. The couple moved away to a distant island. Soon after their marriage, her husband revealed he was not really a man but a bird posing as a man. Sedna realized she had been tricked and that her hopes for being well fed and kept warm were nil. She feared she was doomed to eat only fish and freeze to death with no furs to keep her warm.

Upon hearing of her situation, her father came to the island and killed Sedna’s husband. As they were leaving the island, birds from all around began to avenge the bird man’s death by forming a giant wind with their wings. When Sedna and her father set out, their kayak began to tip violently in the wind. Sedna’s father decided to throw Sedna overboard in hopes that he might save himself. But Sedna kept a hold of the boat by the tips of her fingers. Her father took out a knife and cut each one of Sedna’s fingers off. She sank helplessly to the bottom of the ocean floor where she remained a powerful spirit controlling all the animals of the sea.

Each of Sedna’s fingers became a different creature of the sea: fish, seals, walruses, and whales. Sedna was said to have the head and torso of a woman and the body of a fish. Inuit hunters were known to call upon Sedna whenever seeking a prosperous hunt. To appease the goddess, a Shaman would transform himself into a fish and swim to the bottom of the sea where  he would comb the tangles from her hair. This made Sedna happy and ensured an abundance of sea creatures for the hunt.

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Artist Statement and Resume

Gallery

Curiosity led me to experiment with a variety of media. While photographing landscapes, I studied rock formations and experimented with digital enhancement to accentuate fractals and the mysterious imagery that emerged. Later I moved into a three dimensional realm and began to sculpt. Working with wood, I became fixated on patterns caused by spalting, often enhancing a piece with turquoise inlay. Gradually, I moved on to carving bone and antler, creating both large and miniature sculptures using a variety of shapes and texture, amazed at how it all fit together. Recently, I discovered my passion for working with metal. I began to design jewelry and sculptures using bronze, copper, brass, silver, and gold. I’ve been applying ancient techniques to form and shape along with a process of heating and cooling to create vibrant and unusual patinas. My current work is the result of a long and winding path of discovery, pulling together skills and wisdom gathered along this remarkable journey.

Before commencing any project, I am compelled to deeply study the lines of the medium with which I’m working. To avoid inserting my own bias, I try to view the material from my subconscious, holding it in different directions to see its possibilities. I let it rest then resonate. After a while I pick it up and it speaks to me by showing me an image I might have missed or affirming a hunch I might have had.

Bones hold a deeply sacred meaning. The sacrum is the most sacred of all bones. It makes the perfect mask in the way the holes line up with the eyes on a human face. I am drawn to these dark spaces that pull me in. Being the youngest in a large family, I was often on my own to sort out my thoughts. Creativity was a risk. I had to mask any impulse to express myself through art. So my use of jaw bone is also symbolic, as it gives me a voice that has been muted for most of my life. I long to celebrate the purity and honesty found in bones – elegant configurations – that form the foundation of all human and animal existence. My work shines light on that which is typically discarded, buried, or burned, bringing back into form that which longs to be reincarnated and beheld.

Thus, the process of making art is a journey of leaving the material world to retrieve an artifact from that suspension in time; it’s a casting aside of my conditioning to evoke an inner voice; it’s both a departure from the norm and a reentry toward accepting what the process has led me to create.

Keith Plummer

2016

 

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Keith Plummer

53 Oyster Creek Lane

Damariscotta, Maine 04543

keithplummersculptor.com                                           keitheplummer@gmail.com

Profile

Innovative self taught sculptor, working in bone, wood, and metal using unconventional and ancient methods to create surreal objects with voice and personality.

 

Studies

2016 Michael Good Metal Smithing Rockport, Maine

2015 Metal Smithing and Jewelry, Maine College of Art, Portland

2010 Bronze Casting, New England School of Metal Working, Lewiston, Maine

2008 Blacksmithing, New England School of Metal Working, Lewiston, Maine

2007   Digital Photography, University of Maine,                      Lewiston, Maine

2007 Black and White Photography, Ghost Ranch,                    New Mexico

2006   Black and White Photography, University of Maine,      Lewiston, Maine

 

Shows

2016 “38th Annual Juried Art Exhibition”, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, New Jersey

2016 “Trees of Life and Evil Eyes”, Abrazo Interno Gallery,   New York, New York

2016 “Out of Order”,   South Shore Art Center,                         Cohasset, Massachusetts

2016 “Juried Art Show” BWAC,                                              Brooklyn, New York

2016 “22nd Annual Juried Exhibition” Zullo Gallery,              Medfield, Massachusetts

2016 “Juror’s Choice”, Jamaica Plain,                                      Boston, Massachusetts

2016 “Spring Exhibition 2016”, Black Hole Gallery,                Rockland, Maine

2016 “Flowers”, River Arts Gallery,                                          Damariscotta, Maine

 

Awards

2016 “Twins: Night and Day”, Award of Excellence, Manhattan Arts International, “New Beginnings”, Online Juried Exhibition.

2016 “Narwhale: Unicorn of the Sea”, Honorable Recognition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, “Open-No Theme”, International Online Contest.

2016 “Twins: Night and Day”, 3rd place, International Gallery of the Arts, “2nd Annual Arts of Humanity” International Online Contest.

2016 “Goo goo J’oob”, 1st Place Sculpture, Naples for the Arts, Naples, Maine

 

Publications

2017 Woven Tale Press, Online Literary Magazine       February Issue, Volume V#1

2017 Exquisite Arts Magazine, International Gallery of the Arts, Canada, January Issue

 

Museums

2016      Davistown Museum                                                        Liberty, Maine

Reviews

“Keith Plummer has two works in the show, ‘Dark Knight’ and ‘Cat Mask’ using found bone parts and rock that celebrate the ongoing process of natural decomposition to a fascinating effect.” Juror Nick Capasso, “Out of Order”, Art Scope Magazine, November and December Issue, 2016.

 

Sculpture, Jewelry, and Design