Breaker, 1999
Steel, wood, fiberglass, garden hoses; 36x32x50 in

Known for transforming ordinary materials such as tee shirts, lampshades, garden hoses, plastic siding and sponges into physical and conceptual conundrums, Lynn Aldrich has recently embraced more overtly philosophical and theological themes. Her interest in the possibility of re-engaging contemporary art with the sacred has led to larger-scaled sculptural works that have nevertheless lost none of their sense of whimsy and wonder. She has intensified her study of light, color, space and form (which were so memorably explored in her series of overturned "Lampshade" sculptures as well as her layered, dimensional wall pieces constructed from corrugated plastic siding) as well as the everyday mysteries of corporeality. "I find myself noticing things that are sometimes quite simple, marginal, or peripheral," she has said, "and sensing them as being loaded with complex meaning, saturated with metaphor and paradox." Often making reference to plant and animal life, as well as the cosmos, Aldrich's works employ found materials in ways that do not transform so much as manipulate them — through, for example, the accumulation, repetition or juxtaposition of like objects — so as to reveal something essential about their nature.

Island, 1997
Plastic Figures, enamel, epoxy, half globe 13x13x6 in