18 | JULY 2 - 8, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Gregory Barry’s ‘Shadow and Gravity in Wood Sculpture’ Victoria Wright Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Gregory Barry is an Ashburnham-based artist whose work lies at the crossroads of drawing, sculpture and installation. Barry’s sculpture is a three-dimensional experience, based on his belief in the simple and fundamental transactions between people and objects. This means that his sculptures are not only abstractions or decorations but should be understood as a commentary on contemporary societal values. His objects incorporate discarded and natural materials like aluminum wire, plywood and rocks into sculptures that serve to emphasize their past life. As Barry puts it: “Material history becomes signifi cant in this work because it brings voice, conversation, awareness, and curiosity to the material’s previous existence.” Barry works to create unity between people and their natural environment by allowing them to connect through materials, space, light, and shadow. Barry’s works are characterized by questioning how humans interact with nature. Emphasizing the creative process to the same extent as the work, Barry identifi es with the river, with the breath, and with essential movement and life. He reveals the incessant movement at the heart of the natural cycle which, over time, alters beings and things, and is driven by the desire to understand nature in its evolution and decline. The fundamental
ideas of his approach are growth, change, transformation, and temporality. He comes out of the condition of humanity to understand the condition of nature itself. The sculpture “Open Forms,” for example, is a collection of distinctly colored pieces of wood, screwed together to create contrasting shapes, which he then wraps around a tree trunk. This sculpture refl ects the diff erentiation between humans and nature while still highlighting the connection of one to the other. In his sculpture “Plates,” Barry uses discarded wood from construction sites to create intricate patterns and shapes. An emphasis on recycling and bettering the earth is clear in this sculpture as it seemingly depicts two tectonic plates. Metaphorically, it is a commentary on climate change and the impact of humans on the ecology of our planet. Barry’s sculptures are intense with meaning, but have organic shapes and are often light in appearance. This playfulness is contradicted by the dark commentary of the work. The strategic use of wood in Barry’s art plays with shadows and light, appealing to the need for sunlight in all natural beings. It reconnects these treated woods to their natural roots. The sculpture “Ply” is a wall installation that intentionally plays with shadow and light. The small pieces of plywood broken and joined together creates a wavy shape in relief against the wall. The piece is intended to give a sense of movement and new life to the old materials, producing a second, third, and even fourth life of matter. Barry does not interfere with the material, accepting any-
“Ply,” discarded/weathered plywood, 2018 GREGORY BARRY/ARTSWORCESTER
thing that can alter the work. He fi nds that the history, the age, and the traces of the human hand add character and individuality to all of his works. These individual aspects of each work are inseparable from his creation, allowing for history to be incorporated in his sculptures. Learning and understanding through touch and making is a simple but deeply important element in his work. His enthusiasm and wonder are expressed through the realization of each sculpture. With visual links to minimalism and environmental art, Barry creates an interaction between sculpture and space. The sculptures are presented in the same environment as that of the spectator, creating an intersection across human life, nature, and art. He creates experiences that are not only visual but engage all the human senses. The Writhe sculpture is an organic shape that gives us the feeling that the sculpture is in motion. It is as if the sculp-
“Writhe” SUBMITTED PHOTO
ture has arms that extend out and take the space and the viewer’s attention. The sculpture, therefore, refuses to simply sit in space: it inhabits it. The works have been designed for a viewer to walk alongside them, directly interacting with their environment and placement. The sculptures are not static. Rather, they appear to be in motion. If we look at them from diff erent angles, our perception also appears to be in motion. The beauty of his work is its openness — each viewer brings their own interpretation of the work, an interpretation that is generated by their own memories.
“Art History 201: Art, the Public, and Worcester’s Cultural Institutions,” at Clark University gives students the opportunity to work closely with regional contemporary artists. With individual artists from ArtsWorcester’s gallery programs, the students hone their visual and critical skills by producing short essays positioning the artists’ work within contemporary art history. This year, the students also curated small selections of their artist’s work for these online spotlights. This collaboration was funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
