STATEMENT
Using wood stripped bare of its bark and washed smooth by the Connecticut
River in Bellows Falls, Vermont, I construct dynamic forms that invite contemplation. I have been attracted to wood since childhood when I studied the shrunken grey wood fence posts and X-shaped gate that held the cows in the barnyard of my father’s farm. Although they were dried out and lifeless, I was drawn to the harmony of their grainy patterns. I saw in them the possibility of transcending a visually dull world.
As an adult I began collecting dead wood on the beaches near my home. Finding its energy a surrogate for my emotions, I sometimes arrange the branches into bundles of particular feelings like solitude or anger. My work represents my struggle for sensuousness by transforming and revaluing a material which is often considered refuse into an object that is beautiful and alive. Coming from a religious background, I create pieces that become the focus of meditation. Wandering within the landscape of my wall-hung sculpture may be compared to the contemplation of a Buddhist Thangka.
Some sculptures appear highly formal in composition while others seem to have fallen in place by chance. The wood, honed to its essence, is assembled to create a subtle play of color in shades of rust, hazel, silver and charcoal to make evident the beauty produced by the ravages of time. The wall-hung sculptures include graceful traceries and densely-layered compositions and range up to eight feet in width.
My work has been viewed in ten solo shows and a number of group shows in the New York area. It is represented in the collections of artists, curators and corporations including Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson. Its intertwining pieces have been compared by New York Times critic Barry Schwabsky to “the muscular brush strokes of Abstract Expressionist painters like Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning.”
Phyllis Rosser
14 East Fourth Street
New York, NY 10012
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
| Smith College Alumnae Art Gallery, Northampton, MA | |
| Ceres Gallery, 2005, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 2003, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 2000, New York, NY | |
| Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters: “Ties That Bind” 1997, New Brunswick, NJ | |
| Ceres Gallery, 1997, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 1994, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 1991, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 1988, New York, NY | |
| Ceres Gallery, 1986, New York, NY |
SELECTED COLLECTIONS:
| Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA | |
| Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA. | |
| Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ | |
| Gartner Group, Stamford, CT | |
| Patrick and Carlyn Duffy, Eagle Point, OR | |
| Bruce and Lynn Surry, East Hampton, NY | |
| Sylvia Sleigh Collection of Women Artists, New York, NY | |
| Martin and Marjory Stoller, Bethesda. MD | |
| Frances Bendixson, London, England |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
| 2007 | BREAKING NEW GROUND: THE POWER AND VARIETY OF LANDSCAPES,” Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY. CERES GALLERY ARTISTS, Krasdale Gallery, (a satellite of the Bronx Museum), New York, NY “MADE IN THE USA,” Blue Hill Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY. 111 th ANNUAL OPEN EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB National Arts Club, New York, NY SOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER’s 51 st NATIONAL FALL OPEN EXHIBITION, Manchester, VT. |
| 2006 | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS, “ANYTHING GOES,” Sussex County Community College, Newton, NJ. 110TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB, National Arts Club, New York, N.Y. ART 4 CONNECTIONS, George Segal Gallery, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ. |
| 2005 | “WATER AND WOOD,” Mitchell Sanborn Gallery, Keyport, NJ. 67th ANNUAL GUILD HALL ARTIST MEMBER’S EXHIBITION, Guild Hall, East Hampton, N.Y. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTSTS, 116th ANNUAL EXHIBITION, New York, NY. WOMEN’S STUDIO CENTER MEMBERS EXHIBITION, Long Island City, N.Y. |
| 2004 | THE 47TH ANNUAL CHAUTAUQUA NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF AMERICAN ART, Chautauqua,New York. 66 th ANNUAL GUILD HALL ARTIST MEMBER’S EXHIBITION, Guild Hall, East Hampton, N.Y. LAKESIDE-STATEWIDE JURIED ART EXHIBITION, Art Association of Oswego, Oswego, N.Y. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS 115 TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION, New York, N.Y. NOHO NY ART WALK, NoHo NY BID, New York, N.Y. |
| 2003 | CERES AT 20: BIRTHDAY DUET, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY. 107TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB, National Arts Club, New York, NY. |
| 2002 | 106TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB, National Arts Club, New York, NY |
| 2000 | AS IF ALIVE: ANIMATE SCULPTURE, New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit, N.J. THE MASK: MAGIC OR MENACE, City Without Walls, Newark, N.J. |
| 1999 | SUMMER ENSEMBLE, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. CERES AT 15: CELEBRATING THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF A WOMEN’S GALLERY, Kingsborough Community College, Art Gallery of the City of New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| 1998 | THE ALJIRA NATIONAL 4, Aljira Gallery, Newark, N.J. THE AUTUMN FORUM, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. |
| 1996 | COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. |
| 1995 | GIRLHOOD: GROUP EXHIBITION, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. GIRLHOOD: GROUP EXHIBITION, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y.1994 HALLELUJAH ‘94, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. |
| 1993 | HALLELUJAH ‘93, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. TWIXT CUP AND LIP: SPRING MEMBERS SHOW, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. – Works by Selected Members. |
| 1992 | CERES ON BROADWAY: A GROUP CELEBRATION, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. SPRING MEMBERS SHOW, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. – Works by Selected Members. |
| 1991 | Krasdale Gallery, New York, NY ART ENVIRONMENT, Annual Group Exhibition of the Frelinghuysen Township Environmental Commission, Johnsonburg, N.J. |
| 1990 | ACCEPTABLE/UNACCEPTABLE, Ceres Galley, New York, N.Y. – Works by Selected Members. |
| 1989 | THIS AIN’T NO SMALL WORKS SHOW, Ceres Gallery, New York, N.Y. – Works by Selected Members |
| 1988 | WORK OF THE SPIRIT, New York Feminist Art Institute Exhibit at Ceres Gallery, N.Y. |
REVIEWS AND CATALOGUE:
| Guyon, Annie Lawrence, “Creative Synergy: SVAC Puts the Art in Partnership,” Rutland Herald, Rutland, VT, May 10, 2007 | |
| Henry, Sara Lynn, As If Alive: Animate Sculpture, Catalogue for Exhibition at New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit, N.J., 2000. | |
| Bischoff, Dan, “The mojo of ‘Masks,’” The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., Friday, July 28, 2000. | |
| Schwabsky, Barry, “Signposts in Driftwood,” The New York Times, Sunday, August 17, 1997 | |
| Kolflat, Gail, “Portrait of the Artist,” State of the Art, Red Bank, N.J., November/December 1997. | |
| Zimmer, William, “In White Plains, Krasdale Provides Views of City Life,” The New York Times, Sunday, August 4, 1991. |
AWARDS:
| Council of American Artist Societies, Inc. Award, In memory of Lila Katzen, awarded at the 107TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB, New York, N.Y. | |
| Council of American Artist Societies, Inc. Award, In memory of Lila Katzen, awarded at the 110th ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF THE CATHERINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB, New York, N.Y. |
ART CRITICISM:
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Making Trouble,” High Performance, Winter, 1994. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Rites of Spring: Procession to Save Our Gardens,” High Performance, Fall 1994. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Mel Chin’s ‘Invisible Architecture,’” Public Art Review, Fall/Winter 1994. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “There’s No Place Like Home,” New Feminist Art Criticism: Art, Identity, Action. Arlene Raven, Cassandra Langer, Joanna Frueh, ed. Harper Collins, N.Y., 1994. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Art About Family Violence: A New Political Movement,” New Directions for Women, March/April 1993. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Found Objects and Everyday Lives Inspiration for Wearable Art,” New Directions for Women, November/December 1992. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Suzanne Benton: Sculpted in Power, Pain and Herstory,” New Directions for Women, July/August 1991. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “A Passion for Life,” New Directions for Women, January/February 1991. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Barbara Chung, Elliot Sharp, Yong Soon Min: Irrational Fullness,” High Performance, #51, Fall 1990. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Art and the Invisible Reality,” High Performance, #49, Spring 1990. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Art Makes Political Waves,” New Directions for Women, July/August 1990. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Education Through Collaboration Saves Lives,” Art in the Public Interest, Arlene Raven, editor. U.M.I., Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 1989. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Ann McCoy Uses Goddess Symbols to Heal and Renew in Painting and Sculpture, New Directions for Women, July/August 1989. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Activist Artists Set New Agenda,” New Directions for Women, March/April 1989. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Arlene Raven’s Essays Address Harsh Realities, New Directions for Women, July/August 1988. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Anita Steckel: Erotic Pioneer,” New Directions for Women, November/December 1988. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Nancy Fried Vanquishes Rage and Pain,” New Directions for Women, May/June 1988. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Spiritual Life Cycle Depicted: Ruth Weisberg,” New Directions for Women, March/April 1988. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Nancy Azara,” Women Artist News, Summer 1987. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Feminism and Art: Four Lectures by Arlene Raven,” Women Artist News, September 1986. | |
| Rosser, Phyllis, “Feminism and Art: A Lecture by Arlene Raven,” Women Artist News, June 1986. |
EDUCATION:
| Smith College, B.A. History of Art specializing in Modern Architecture. |
BORN:
| Rochester, New York. |