|
Joan
Sutter chose sculpture as an elective when in college. She was
amazed to learn at graduation that she had won a prize for a portrait
piece. Her mother-in-law recognized her potential and paid for art
classes at the Detroit Institute of Art. One of Joan's first works at
the Institute was Penelope, shown here looking at a turtle.
Sculpted in
clay, the only medium she used at the time, Penelope was cut
apart, hollowed out, and then put back together again to accommodate the
shrinkage during kiln-firing. When she finished the
piece, she gave it to her mother-in-law as a gift, who named it
"Penelope." It was later returned to Joan as a prized
item of inheritance.
Like most of her subjects, Penelope was not
modeled after an actual person, but was simply created from the mind of
the artist.
Joan later returned to
school in the 1980s to study sculpture and
drawing. She has worked in many mediums, including wood,
stone, plastics and cold-cast bronze. Some of her other works are
shown at the left. |
