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Artist Statement for Richard Dagostino
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In ancient Oriental aesthetics, the spirits of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility were believed to reside in ‘paper’. As a sculptor, I selected hand-made paper as my medium of choice to communicate the spirit of natural forms.
My ‘chop’, or oriental signature translates –
“Revealing the nature spirits through paper and light.”
My quest is to master the use of hand-made paper in three dimensional sculptures that are illuminated. The challenge is to capitalize on the translucency of paper unobstructed by the use of armatures or internal support structures for the paper sculpture.
My central artistic goal is to create sculptural works that convey both the impermanence of life, and the inherent beauty of natural forms, through the natural aspects of hand-made paper. My sculptures are cast on forms, reed and molds of foam, wire mesh to circumvent the need for armatures. Where support mechanisms are required, I make every effort to mimic natural forms like driftwood or coral.
Much like a Buddhist sand painting, paper is a transient and ethereal medium. The process of its construction is in itself a Zen-like experience, where beaten fibers are recasting as a new, but familiar natural form. The illumination of the paper emphasizes the paper’s ability to pass light, and creates an abstract shadow environment beyond just ‘lighting’ the sculpture.
My hope is to create unique sculptures that evoke in the viewer a resonance and connectedness with nature. The familiar forms and exaggerated sizes of my sculptures borrow components from the natural world and human form, to allow simultaneous perception of both the figurative form and abstract concepts.
So too in my photography, I attempt to find the ‘picture - in the photo’. My subjects are often simple but the perspective, or treatment of the subject, is often ‘edited’ to form the basic level of form and composition. I love the ‘macro’ view where the essence of the subject is forced forward to make even the most common seem ‘extra’-ordinary.
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