Michael Gosbee, submitted artwork
Michael Gosbee
Sculpture
San Francisco, Ca.
I was born in 1954 and have been doing some kind of creative project ever since I was young. I started with drawing and painting on my creative path and ended up doing ceramic sculpture by way of American Literature. It has been a strange path with so many different impulses motivating me. My main focus regarding ceramics ties me to a long tradition. This tradition has been challenged by some of the contemporary theories of art. I continue to use clay, but have included other materials, loosely applied literary theories and the use of computers as a part of my creative process. After studying for six years I felt that I could make art into a career. By earning a degree I could teach and continue to have access to a creative environment. I earned my BFA in Ceramics at SFSU. I am studying at AAU to earn my MFA in order to achieve those goals.
Works
Michael Gosbee, submitted artwork
I work in several materials (clay, metal and wood) on a personal scale creating objects. These objects suggest conceptual concerns. Working within limitation I deal with failure, fragmentation, influence and open-endedness. I simplify the images of cultural artifacts and manipulate them, often using computer software. In that manipulated image I choose fragments that I want to translate into 3D objects. These objects then go through a labor-intensive process that demands a commitment to exploration. An informal balance reinforcing the sense of continuation and fragmentation often results. These stuttering abstract collages wallow in process suggesting more than just their “objectness.” These traditional materials try to speak a contemporary language with moments of poetry. At the same time everything depends on access. So I do whatever I can with the limits imposed.
