Roger Golden
Artist's statement:
Vulnerable, homeless, disabled and elderly: these are the forgotten, disenfranchised people I have been sculpting. My objective is to make people see the lost souls that they typically, and often deliberately, ignore.
My work explores the human condition with both realism and compassion. The inspiration comes most often from the parade of people outside my window: from runaways to illegals, all of whom are down-on-their-luck but not giving up. My aim is to create vivid, non-judgmental portraits of people who exist outside the mainstream of life yet deserve a second chance.
All my sculptures are figurative and have a strong narrative thrust: a three-dimensional manifestation of the "people's poetry" of a Tom Waits or a Charles Bukowski.
This proprietary combination of materials allows me to work quickly to record fleeting moments filled with emotional resonance, and yet to render the sculptures into permanence without the mediating effect of bronzing. These humble materials also ensure that the sculptures are affordable, and permit an unprecedented level of audience interaction. This reinforces my philosophy of opening up sculpture to ordinary people and non-traditional settings.
Human-scaled, observational sculptures create an intimacy with viewers; perhaps even palpably force the audience to confront, often for the first time, people who are easy to overlook. My need, and my challenge, is to illustrate that everyone has worth, and that everyone has the capacity for grace.
Education:
2001-4 Toronto School of Art, 2001 to 2004, part-time studies in sculpture
Solo Exhibitions:
2010, Grace, Canadian Sculpture Centre, Toronto
2010, Nocturnal, Ben Navaee Gallery, Toronto
2009, Feral, Visual Arts Ontario, Toronto
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2010, Head to Toe, Canadian Sculpture Centre, Toronto
2009-10, New Members 2009 Exhibition, Canadian sculpture Centre
2009, Emerging Sculptors, Canadian Sculpture Centre
2008-9, exhibited in eight group Sculpture and Members' shows, Ben Navaee Gallery, Toronto
email: goldensculptor@me.com
website: http://web.me.com/goldensculptor
Media: burlap, winterstone
SSC Member Since: 2009
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