Petah Coyne : A Free Life
Petah Coyne is a New York-based contemporary sculptor and photographer. Referred to by Artforum as the “queen of mixed-media,” Coyne works in disparate and innovative materials. In the mid-1990s, Coyne began incorporating taxidermy into her practice. Birds, waterfowl and small animals can be seen throughout her works, some clearly visible, others deeply imbedded within the sculptures.
Coyne derives her inspiration from equally diverse sources of literature and film, from Japanese authors, Dante’s Divine Comedy and Greek and Roman mythology, to world culture, the natural environment and the artist’s own personal biography. Best known for her large and small scale hanging sculptures and floor installations, Coyne’s practice of repurposing materials continually fuels her work, breathing new life into each object. Themes of loss, darkness and hidden beauty are recurring in her work, what Director of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Joseph C. Thompson stated as “a world of dense, enfolding forces, a world in which rising from the surface takes one inwards to some dark, ultimate center.”
“Petah Coyne: A Freedom Life” originates from Ha Jin’ s novel, which entitled "A Free Life" and published in 2007. Whether the speeding monks and the women kicking up their skirts in the photography, or the latest classic waxed sculpture, all point to the most original and deep desire - freedom.Untitled #1421 (Ha Jin) is the latest hanging sculpture in a series of works based on key Eastern literary figures that have influenced Coyne’s oeuvre. The work’s central element is a delicately waxed steel armature, strewn with sprigs of blue and white wax flowers. Inspired by a National Geographic documentary on the effects of global warming, the three-part steel structure, layered in pristine white wax, mirrors an image of three frozen trees standing alone in a snowy field. A testament to the beauty of new life out of darkness, the sculpture symbolizes the emerging growth having survived a forest fire and now blooming through the snow.
The artist’s signature hand-dipped wax flowers form a bouquet-like shape that acts as Coyne’s tribute to the noted Chinese-American author, Ha Jin that immigrated to America in the mid 1980s. Coyne appreciates Ha Jin’s masterful writing, an author who despite a turbulent past, strives for transparency and purity in his prose. Portraying politically agnostic characters throughout his works, Jin endeavors to transcend all cultural differences, and as an artist Coyne identifies with this. For her, Ha Jin’s simple artistic style possesses a purity and beauty, like a bouquet in the snow.
Opening reception is at 15:00 on September 11 in NUNU FINE ART.