Penny Truitt

Dispersal I

Dispersal I

Work Details

Dispersal I

2022

Steel

48 X 4 X 7 inches

Inventory ID: # 16938





    About Penny Truitt

    Winter 2021-2022, "Ignoring Borders" Artist Statement:

    New work explores the theme of places without borders. Images of wind and water keep re-emerging - both are elements that ignore all but natural currents. The "Dispersal" series refers to seed containers; containers that are ambivalent pods or boats. I imagine them gliding through water or skimming a landscape, propelled by wind. Perhaps the phenomena of natural dispersion and migration can suggest a newly-found freedom and disregard for boundaries on many levels.

    Spring 2020
    "Intended Consequences" consists of a new body of sculpture which sets three-dimensional ideas into motion employing two forms in each piece, one of clay, the other steel. While thinking about the cardinal points of North, South, East and West, Truitt makes hand-built clay forms as a representation of the landscape, which is disrupted by steel forms breaking through the clay. The analogy implies steel as a man-made interruption or barrier imposed on the clay. She explains. “Building a barrier wall has both political and environmental consequences that remain long after the wall disintegrates.” While she doesn’t intend for the artwork to appear political in nature, she is thinking about these analogies within her forms.

    Spring 2018 "Confluence Series"
    A ceramic sculptor for the majority of her career, Truitt started working in steel a few years ago to challenge herself with a new material and methods, seeing where her forms and surfaces would go in the new medium. Inspiration came when she realized working in steel was taking her sculpture in a new direction, seeking to redefine her relationship with form and force a shift in perception.
    Confluence, crosscurrents, and slippage are words used in her titles and the pieces “work” through shifting relationships, and push and pull between the sculptural elements. All of the works consist of two primary shapes which relate to each other with form and proportion, balance and continuity. Truitt explains she’s striving to, “further explore the possible arrangement of components and look for various orientations that reveal the unexpected – redefining the relationship and shifting of perception.” After years perfecting glazing techniques with the Raku firings of her ceramic work, the surface and finish of steel posed another challenge. Through extensive experimentation with chemical patinas and the reactions that occur when adding natural elements, the surfaces of Truitt’s sculpture are exquisite. Gunmetal matte black, textured iron oxides, and painted color highlights work in harmony to create the strong form and beautiful surface which makes up this exquisite new body of work by Penny Truitt. Also of importance to Truitt are the use of line and texture with both materials. The fluidity of ceramics lends itself to soft flowing lines, while the sharp angularity and cuts off steel form an opposing line. Both work together to reveal the conceptual content and physical form of the pieces.

    Beginning in 2010, Truitt presented work addressing the issue of boundaries, encompassing Border walls, obstructions and impositions. This theme prevails, with current work combining clay and steel expanding on these concerns. Truitt explains, "Clay, when fired, is impermeable to time and the elements. Steel, by its nature, gradually disintegrates, leaving only a trace. Paradoxically, we create both a temporary, and lasting record on the landscape and in our collective memory."

    All Works by Penny Truitt

    Dispersal I

    Dispersal I

    2022

    Steel

    48 X 4 X 7 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16938

    Dispersal II

    Dispersal II

    2022

    Steel

    27 X 11 X 6 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16939

    Dispersal IV

    Dispersal IV

    2022

    Steel, ceramic

    30 X 6 X 5 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16941

    Dispersal V

    Dispersal V

    2022

    Steel, ceramic

    25 X 6 X 5 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16942

    Dispersal VII

    Dispersal VII

    2022

    Steel, ceramic

    6 X 34 X 6 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16944

    Dispersal XII

    Dispersal XII

    2023

    Ceramic

    21 X 7 X 4 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16972

    Dispersal XIII

    Dispersal XIII

    2023

    Ceramic

    20 X 6 X 4 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16990

    Dispersal XV

    Dispersal XV

    2023

    Ceramic

    23 X 7 X 4.5 inches

    Inventory ID: # 17157

    Dispersal VIII

    Dispersal VIII

    2021

    Steel

    36 X 7 X 7 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16763

    Dispersal IX

    Dispersal IX

    2021

    Steel

    36 X 2 X 6 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16764

    Tidal Shift VI

    Tidal Shift VI

    2020

    Steel

    6 X 37 X 17 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16516

    Tangents

    Tangents

    2020

    Clay, steel

    22.5 X 14.50 X 9.5 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16409

    Double-crossed

    Double-crossed

    2020

    Clay, steel

    16.5 X 19 X 13 inches

    Inventory ID: # 16410