Photographs by Visiting Art Instructor Sylvia de Swaan are on display at the Utica Public Library through Aug. 29 as part of an exhibit titled "Work Zone." De Swaan will participate in a panel discussion on Monday, July 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the library's gallery with two other photographers, Sarah Lathrop and Gina Murtaugh, whose works are also included in the show. The event is free and open to the public.
Depicting sculptors at work, the photographs were shot in the studios of Sculpture Space, an international residency program in Utica. De Swaan was the executive director of Sculpture Space from its founding in 1976 until 1995. Gina Murtaugh followed de Swaan as executive director, and Sarah Lathrop worked in the office for more than a year.
The artists are photographed working with a variety of media using different processes, from welding to sewing. The exhibit documents the concentration of the artists-in-residence and the broad array of skills they used to create contemporary sculpture over a 30-year period. As a ubiquitous presence in the studio for 20 of those 30 years, de Swaan was able to capture candid shots of artists fully engaged in the creative process.
"One of the favorite parts of my job at Sculpture Space was arriving each morning and looking around the studio at the strides the artists made working late the night before," de Swaan reflected. "This was the pioneer era of Sculpture Space, when the roof often leaked and the future was uncertain. Connecting with the creative energy in the studio helped fuel my energy to overcome what often seemed like insurmountable obstacles. In choosing which pictures to print for this show, out of the thousands of images I shot, I sought to represent something about that mysterious moment when idea, material and energy coalesce into the intangible enterprise we call art."
The exhibit is sponsored by Partners Trust Bank, and Light Work of Syracuse provided in-kind support. The library gallery is open Monday and Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5p.m. The Utica Public Library is located at 303 Genesee Street in Utica.
