Beth Dary
Artist Statement:
Bubbles of ancient CO2 captured in Arctic ice; mottled primordial landscapes that, in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, grew inside houses; fractal patterns formed by the liquid contaminants in urban runoff – these phenomena represent nature in transition due to our culture’s impact on the environment.
The formations that manifest at such sites inspire me, in part because I have always lived at the water’s edge, from my childhood on Cape Cod to adult life in New Orleans and New York City. For example, a series of wall mount, and kinetic sculptures, Full Circle and Elements, made of tiny glass-headed pins borrow the patterns of the molds that emerged in homes in New Orleans after floodwaters receded; an installation, Equilibrium, composed of thirty floating blown glass “bubble” sculptures installed in an outdoor lily pond in Battery Park City, NYC that took on water and algae from the pond as they became a part of the landscape, reflecting the viewer and world around them.
I explore the liminal space between nature untouched by human intervention and the “new nature” we create every day.
Artist Biography:
Beth Dary holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from Memphis College of Art and is currently a member of American Abstract Artists. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, arts institutions, and museums nationally and internationally. She has received grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Manhattan Community Arts Fund, and has been commissioned by The Battery Park City Authority in Manhattan to create a public art installation for the Rockefeller Park’s Lily Pond. Dary has also received numerous fellowships, residencies and awards including through Yaddo, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Two Trees Cultural Space Subsidy Program in Brooklyn, NY. Her work is included in private, corporate and museum collections in the USA and Europe.
AAA:
Member Since: 2023
Committees: Exhibitions and Events
