For more information about Barbara, go to: www.scavottosculpture.com

Spinning (from aMUSEments) steel/enamel paint 80”x32”x40”

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Every body has a story. Stories, conveyed through vocalizing, inscribing or expressing body language can be spawned by reality or fabricated by imagination. The terminologies of the human form constitute the heart and soul of my clay, steel and wire sculptures. These corporal “voices” of humanity, from the individual to the collective fascinate me and stimulate figurative narratives. I am enthralled by human nature and the prodigious spectrum of diversity, uniqueness, mystery and universality. I am grateful for this enormous reservoir of resources. My sculptural stories are inspired by personal experiences, relationships, everyday observations and psychological issues. They are communicated thematically through the marvelous attitudes, behaviors, postures and gestures of the body - of humans being. I survey specific subjects which are often topped off with witty titles. The past decade encompasses SINce My Last Confession, Humans Being, aMUSEments (with pARTy hats and parTIES) and SITuations. I find the contrasting processes of modeling soft clay which hardens when fired and shaping hard cold steel, pliable when heated to be alluring.

SINce My Last Confession represents the seven deadly sins, penances and a monumental rosary. With clay and minimalist humor, I model human demeanor exceeding moderation and entering an extravagant and noxious realm; traversing beyond the boundaries of formal religion and communicating a comprehensible universal body language. Humans Being portrays figures in halted moments adopting a feeling of otherworldliness in theatrical-like tableaus. The un-costumed clay performers portray a landscape of virtues and shortcomings. aMUSEments are sculptural tonics, inviting the viewer to sip the humor. Figures perform entertaining feats of equilibrium and multiple tasks. They may be experienced as colorful reprieves where global trials, human afflictions, and the sting of reality are silenced by humor, celebration and delight. My newest comic interpretations, SITuations, zoom in on locations, events and circumstances surrounding or affecting human beings. A humorous hodgepodge of body types, postures, activities and behaviors create casual and amiable parodies which may “ring a bell” with the viewer. The assorted occupied seatings are completed with titles inspired by puns appending a twist or spice to a humdrum happening.

Avarice (from SINce My Last Confession) clay/oil paint 50”x20”x23”

Goop Therapy (from SITuations) clay/acrylic paint 24”x18”x11”