The 3 Graces by Virginia Harrison

Virginia Harrison was born in Denver Colorado in 1950. She was raised in an elegant mansion and was destined to become a debutant. However her inclination toward sculpting had already begun in her father’s tool shop and in the Rocky Mountains. After 2 years at a woman’s college in Virginia she traveled to Europe and India. She married Allan in 1974. They raised two daughters who remember the numerous art and craft projects that were the mainstay of playtime.

In 1988-90 she attended Sonoma State University, pursuing her love of tools and sculpture. She wove her first basket out of copper and aluminum wire for and installation she called “Mother Basket”. After graduating she was hired at the Bronze Plus foundry in Sebastopol as a metal chaser. She continued to weave copper baskets, and during that time developed a way to weave with bronze wire. At the foundry bronze wire is used for welding, but by casting a bronze bowl as a base and welding bronze spines to it she found it was possible to weave the welding wire in the open spines. She then soldered another larger wire around the top to finish the vessel. Soon she found that she was able to go beyond the vessel shape and create more and more complex sculptures. The patina which was added at the end gave the color which completed the work.

The sculptor Rodin and the painter Kandinsky are the artists who inspire Virginia the most. Kandinsky believed that music was the purest form of abstraction in art and he worked in his painting to bring color and form to that same level of purity. As with Kandinsky, music plays a fundamental role in Virginia’s creations. She uses movement of the rhythms and the arc of the sound to create shapes in her mind and then transforms them into sculptures. Virginia has shown in group and solo exhibitions internationally and her sculptures are in private collections throughout the U.S.

Artist Statement

I was raised at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where the history and lore of the gold and silver mines gave me an early understanding of metal. Over the past 17 years, I’ve been refining a technique combining the ignitive force of casting with the delicacy of weaving to create woven bronze sculptures that evoke both literal and emotional interpretation. I sculpt each base in wax and then cast them into bronze. I then weld spines to the base and weave the thin bronze wire, and sometimes beads or other objects, around the spines. After the weaving is complete, a patina is applied.

Sometimes the shapes that emerge are extremely deliberate, while other times they evolve during the process of creating them.

Combining bronze casting and weaving connects me to some of the most ancient human activities, and offers a way of lending grace and movement to bronze.

You can contact Virginia in whatever way works best for you.

Email: virginia@wovenbronze.com

website: http://www.wovenbronze.com/index.asp
Phone: (707) 293-6997
Fax: (707) 573-9426
Mail:
1585 Terrace Way
Box 521
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Virginia also creates custom bronze plaques and other bronze work. To learn more, visit the website for Memory Markers at www.memorymarkers-plaques.com.

 

 

Exhibitions and gallery shows
2011	Represented artist	Just For You Gallery of Fine Arts	Healdsburg, CA
2010	Winner: Best in Show	Juried show: Innovations in Fiber Arts V Sebastopol Center for the Arts	Sebastopol, CA
2010	Represented artist	Sebastopol Art Gallery	Sebastopol, CA
2010	Represented artist	Albany Arts Gallery	Albany, CA
2009-2010	Represented artist	Rice/Polak Gallery	Provincetown, MA
2009	Featured artist	Pallette Art Café	Healdsburg, CA
2008	Represented artist	Pallette Art Café	Healdsburg, CA
2007-present	Represented artist	Pop Gallery	Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007	Invited participant	Juried show, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art	Sonoma, California
2007	Represented artist	Kirchman Gallery	Johnson City, Texas
2007-present	Represented artist	Highlight Gallery	Mendocino, California
2006-2008	Represented artist	Sculptors Dominion	San Antonio, Texas
2006	Fire Goodshow	A St. Gallery	Santa Rosa, California
2005	Invited participant, 3rd Place Winner for Sculpture	2005 Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea	Florence, Italy
2005-Present	Represented artist	Laurence Gallery	Occidental, CA
2005	Participant in group exhibition	Arches Gallery	Healdsburg, CA
2005	Participant in group exhibition	Hanson Howard Gallery	Ashland, OR
2005	Participant in group exhibition	Virginia Breier Gallery	San Francisco, CA
2005	Participant in group exhibition	Highlight Gallery	Mendocino, CA
2003	Invited participant, 4th Place Winner for Sculpture	2003 Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea	Florence, Italy
2003, 2004, 2005	Participant	ARTrails Open Studios tour	Santa Rosa, CA
2003, 2004, 2005	Participant	Art For Life, Aids Fundraiser	Santa Rosa, CA
2003	Personal showing	Imani Gallery	Napa, California
2000	Day of the Dead show	A St. Gallery	Santa Rosa, California
1999	Personal showing	Kajul Gallery	Healdsburg, California
1994	Personal showing	Branscomb Gallery	Bodega Bay, California
1992	Personal showing	Forecast Gallery	Portland, Oregon
1990, 1991	Small Works Show	California Museum of Art	Santa Rosa, California
1990	Senior Show	Sonoma State University	Rohnert Park, California
Work and schooling experience
2003	Contributer	Featured on Sparks, a show featuring artists broadcast on KQED, the San Francisco PBS station	San Francisco, California
1999-present	Founder and owner	Memory Markers, a custom bronze-plaque studio	Santa Rosa, California
1992-2007	Foundry technician and chaser	Bronze+ Foundry	Sebastopol, California
1990	Bachelor of Arts	Graduated with honors in sculpture and drawing	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, California
1980-1984	Jeweler	Bagley and Hotchkiss Jewelers	Guerneville, California