Marcia Adler•Nancy Pirri Artist Statement

Marcia Adler and Nancy Pirri have been sculpting together since the day they met in figure sculpture class in 1998.
Ten years later they have begun to make collaborative pieces which they design and build together -- each work
represents the work of four hands in every aspect and detail, featuring prints inked with slip and stains on terra cotta clay.

They have made ten pieces so far in this series.

The first three "What Makes a Woman - Bride, Mother, Bitch" reflect our thoughts about feminine attributes over
history and the gender-specific roles woman play in our culture.

The following three, "Housewives", presents our take on some iconic/ironic images of 1950's women:
"Bathing-Beauty", "Carmen Miranda", "Exotic Other".

Next is "Couple: Driad/Satyr" ~Wood nymph and Man-goat ~plays with assumptions about who pairs off with whom.

And lastly, "Fishwives/Naiads" address our concerns about traditional forms of female beauty. It amused us
to make graceful figures that have fish on their heads. This is our answer to The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.