Jump to content

Paige Bradley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mrblieu2011 (talk | contribs) at 19:02, 9 October 2012 (→Artistic Analysis). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Paige Bradley is an American born artist and sculptor.

Early life and education

Born in [[1]], California, Bradley knew from an early age that she wanted to become an artist. A high school teacher noticed her talent and encouraged her to enter a local competition, for which she cast her first bronze – the winning entry – at the age of 17.

Bradley received a full scholarship to study art at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She enrolled in 1992. But the school’s conservative Christian ethos did not allow students to draw from live nude models, which Bradley had been doing since she was ten years old. Rather, she and her fellow art students had to “learn” anatomy by drawing their teachers fully clothed. This was an obstacle for someone whose passion for figurative art required a thorough grounding in human anatomy.

As part of the Pepperdine curriculum, Bradley spent her sophomore year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. But the program offered no studio art classes, so she took night drawing classes at the Florence Academy to keep her skills sharp. She also traveled throughout Europe in committed pursuit of all things relating to and created by [[2]]. “I wanted to stand where he stood and see what he saw,” she says.3

Upon returning to the U.S. in 1994, Bradley left Pepperdine and entered into what would be a ten-year apprenticeship with sculptor [MacDonald]. She began by performing the most menial tasks and eventually worked with him on large projects, such as The Flair, which was commissioned for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. During that time, she also enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Her talent earned an invitation to participate in the National Sculpture Society’s “Young Sculptors Competition.” Her work remains in the Pennsylvania Museum of Fine Arts. But even there, at he nation’s oldest classical art school, she encountered bias against the figure. One professor, she recalls, told her, “You’ll tire of the figure when you’ve matured.”

Artistic Analysis

Paige Bradley brings a modern sensibility to a classical art form, creating primarily representaional bronze sculptures, paintings and drawings of the human figure that explore the human experience. Frequent themes include self-discovery, renewal, confinement, liberation, freedom, balance, time, evolution, consciousness and spirituality, among others.

Bradley believes that art “has the ability to speak a timeless language that provides a certain order to the chaos of the world.”1 In her view, it can also transcend the isolation and fragmentation of the modern experience, and reveal elements shared by all humanity.

Early works (1996 – 2003) included a series of male and female bronze figures interacting with a sphere – observing it, balancing it, resting upon it – the symbolism of the object shifting with each piece. Among these works are “Blossom,” “Ascent” and “Balance.”

Another early series comprises four figures – “Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn” and “Winter” – each exhibiting a posture and an expression reflecting Bradley’s metaphorical take on the seasons.

Yoga, dance and meditative postures recur in her work. They reflect her desire to create art that “advocates healing and empowerment for people around the world” citation and is “a forceful voice to help those who suffer from illness, repression, or exploitation.” citation “Liberty,” “The Visionary” and “In Spite of It All” give form to various aspects of those themes.

In “Expansion,” a female figure resembling Bradley, who often serves as her own model, sits in lotus position, her expanding consciousness causing light to radiate from within her but cracking her bronze “skin” as it does. The light escapes through jagged fissures. Her liberation threatens the integrity of the physical container for the self.

Bradley writes, “Would we still be able to exist if we were authentically ‘un-contained’?” citation

A number of works delve more deeply into the themes of containment and freedom, hiding and revealing.

“From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a container already built for us to fit inside: a social security number, a gender, a race, a profession,” says Bradley. “I ponder whether we are defined more by the container we are in or by what we are, truly, inside of ourselves. Would we recognize ourselves if we could expand beyond our bodies?” citation

For some of these figures, such as “Into the Light,” “Evolution,” “Freedom Bound” and “Couture,” internal containment is externalized in the form of cast-bronze “fabric.” Bradley writes: “Each figure is contained but struggles to break free from self-inflicted boundaries… to reveal themselves in order to become understood and known.” citation

“Clarity,” “The Kite” and “Soaring” turn the fabric inside out, transforming it from a confining cloth to a banner of liberation and freedom.

Bradley further explores the theme in her “Containment” series. Each piece features an individual female figure, again seated in the lotus position, atop a Plexiglas box 14 inches square by nearly 6 feet tall. The box represents the confinement of the individual within set limits. One figure’s pedestal-like container is filled with Barbie dolls; another sits above a box filled with bullets. Both are iconic symbols “that may not be of our choosing” but can hold power over us nonetheless.

“The purpose of this series is to realize that these are in fact only boxes, and that just outside of them one can find a world without limitations. That world is, in fact, exactly where you are standing when viewing these works.”

Public Art

Awards and Recognition

  • 2009 - Gold Medal of Honor, The Allied Artists of American, Annual Juried Exhibition
  • 2006 - Third Place Award, 4th Annual A.R.C. Salon, Online International Exhibition
  • 2005 - Lindsey Morris Memorial Award, Allied Artists of America Show
  • 2004 - Leonard Meiselman Memorial Award, Pen and Brush
  • 2004 - Third Place Award, Women Artists of the West
  • 2003 - Young Sculptor Award, Viselaya Sculpture Competition
  • 1997 - Ramborger Prize, Outstanding Achievement at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
  • 1996 - Stewardson Award, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
  • 1989-1992 - California Arts Scholars Medal, California State (award to high school talent)

References


Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Paige_Bradley&oldid=516865581"