Martha Russo
Ward, Colorado, USA
Martha Russo working on her Petri Dish projects, at her studio in Colorado, 2020.
Martha Russo, Coalesce (detail), 2019. Porcelain casting slip, porcelain, paper clay, glaze materials, metal rods, epoxy, wood. 23 ft x 2 ft x 42 feet. Public Art work: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO). Photo: Wes Magyar
Martha Russo, klynge, 2018. Porcelain casting slip, glaze materials, epoxy, metal, wood, EPS, paper. 64 x 36 x 64 inches. Goodwin Fine Art, Denver, CO. Photo: Wes Magyar
When I was in high school, my mom made me stay home on Friday nights in order to, in her words, “collect myself.” At first, I hated it. Then with time, I understood the beauty of an inner life—to reflect, think, and feel more deeply. This gave me a grounding that continues to sustain me in my studio and teaching practices.
I have a robust studio practice, teach at the University of Colorado Boulder, and have a wonderful partner and two college-age children. Life is full and time to collect myself is usually scarce. In essence, the lockdown has been a string of Friday nights- time of self-reflection.
Pre-lockdown, I had made a big petri dish but hadn’t made the time to develop it. The nasty virus has given me the focused time and horrible inspiration to deeply investigate it.
I started thinking like the virus: what it looks like, how it spreads and erodes the lungs, how it stabs the body. Images were flooding in from the world and I tried to imagine how people felt. What does that look like?
I culled my studio/house/environs to find materials and forms to express ideas about the virus. I raided my wood shop for extra nails, screws, idle hardware and resurrected old work, and found plant materials and quotidian objects to dip in porcelain slip.
Making art for me has always been a way to filter and, thus, better understand what is going on around us. Simply, the lockdown has been and continues to be precious time to absorb, collect, and reflect.
Martha Russo, nomos(curve), installed at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO, 2016. Porcelain, wood, polyethylene foam, rubber scrim, tracing paper, adhesives, glue. 11 ft x 21 ft x 58 feet. Photo: Jeff Wells
During the LOCK-DOWN, Martha Russo has been investigating ideas about petri dishes in relation to Covid-19, teaching on-line at the University of Colorado, Boulder, finding solace in time spent working in her studio, and embracing all the unknowns.
Martha Russo, 2020. “These are a grouping of the petri dish sculptures that I have been working on since the Lockdown. Sizes vary from 5- to 29 inches in diameter. They are made with 04 paper clay, glaze materials, hand built, and found objects.”
Martha Russo, Petri Dish experiments, 2020. “A close-up of a myriad of fired nails. The textures and colors have been eerie and mesmerizing, adding to the conceptual underpinnings of the petri dishes.”
Martha Russo, Lung Forms, 2020 (before firing), in process. “This is how I think it must feel to be stabbed by the virus. These lung forms are embedded with nails, and various metal hardware. They are about 3 x 12 x 24 inches.”
Martha Russo, Lung Forms, 2020, detail as fired. Clay embedded with nails, and various metal hardware. 3 x 12 x 24 inches.
Martha Russo, Petri Dish experiments 2020. “A brain-like form made with paper clay, glass beads, glaze, fired to Cone 04.”
3 x 8 x 8 inches.
Martha Russo. “These tendril forms will go into petri dishes. They relate to the spider-like proliferation of cells in the lung.”
Martha Russo, preparing for glaze firing of large petri form, 2020. Paper clay, hand built and found objects, casting slips, glaze, and HOPE. 29" x 16" x 29"