Art Chowder May | June 2022 Issue No. 39 | Page 75

“ A Procession ” ( 1986 )
48 ” x 120 ” x 36 ”
Low-Fire Clay , Underglaze , Glaze ,
Mixed Media hours . There were some “ radical ” people when she was in school , or hippies at least . Everyone Patti was surrounded by was embracing the funk art and surreal scene .
Skipping ahead we discuss how each decade of personal growth has impacted her body of work , which is vast . “ I consider my art a visual diary . So , whatever ’ s happening in my life or happening around me , gets inside my head . When I go to the studio these things kind come out and just happen in my work . There ’ s a bit of a challenge internally . For me , I get more excited trying to solve a problem or start to curiously wonder . As I work on one piece , I might think ‘ what if ’ or if I tried this a different way — would it work ?” Patti ’ s ability to never fear the unknown and to challenge herself to indulge her curiosity is what moves her from one style of work to trying another in her different series .
Most of Patti ’ s work is figurative . You may think that is limiting , but the progression of her approach , her rebellion , her innovation and curiosity , is visible as you view how she approaches figure work throughout her collections . You can probably see some of that progression in the images provided in this article . Her early work was more realistic figuratively . As she pressed the boundaries and found her identity , she has moved more into abstract figure work . You can see times where she did not embrace color and other times where her art training helps define color on form and how she
May | June 2022 75