Carolina Sardi Studio Visit

I love to visit artists studios.  They are all a bit different especially depending on the media the artist employs.  But there is also a similarity between most studios.  New works in progress on walls or on tables.  Older completed works stored in bins, or in crates, or leaning up against walls.  New completed works hanging on walls or standing in space in mock gallery settings.  Organized chaos.

Rusty and I went with Janda Wetherington, director of PanAmerican ArtProjects, to visit Carolina Sardi in her Miami studio.

Rusty, Carolina, Janda

Sardi was born and raised in Argentina.  She earned her MFA in Sculpture at National University of La Plata, where she also studied Architecture with the artist Enio Iommi.  She has been living and working in Miami since 1995.  I first encountered her work at PanAmerican ArtProjects when they had a gallery in Dallas.  I have seen Sardi's work at art fairs around the world with several galleries.

Sardi is quite expressive as she speaks about her ideas and process.  Her studio is in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami in a building originally owned by Bernice Steinbaum.  The space looked to be about 4000 sq ft with a 15 ft ceiling.  Large. And well adapted for the work of a metal sculptor.

Sardi's 2006 artist statement tells us:

"My art it's my way to express my world vision. I try to convey the maximum of information in the most minimal but essential forms .The concept is as important as the image and the space as important as the shapes. What appears as simple at first glance, becomes upon closer registration much more intricate . The interaction with the spectator brings forth multiple personal interpretations.

Material source for my art comes from various places including everyday life and my own personal experiences . Each form is a symbol that can stand alone, signifying one idea. Together, they can grouped and arranged in an installation that will represent a new or more complex idea and will enhance the central theme. Although I work mainly with steel, my pieces have an organic sensibility that reflects my interest in the basic interactions of life.

My latest wall installations are created by a combination of oval or round painted steel pieces arranged over an invisible grit .The egg shapes are placed in an structured but organic composition that creates a visual effect of mathematical repetition in the space . Each element of the whole is different, they keep their individuality and they maintain their particular presence inside the totality . The embryonic forms can be seen as particles or entities of what it will be. The white stark wall become the background or the medium in which this atmospheric landscapes are created . The steel pieces are placed against the wall , but separated from its surface with a distance of one or two inches, creating a floating effect in the space that is enhance by lights and shadows .The color reinforces the concept of each composition , in which eggs , circles or particles are a symbol of infinity and origin and can become anything and everything when changing color , shape and placement in the space; allowing new compositions , subjects and messages."

I see this evident in these sculptures in her studio:

The Miami Art Guide had this to say about Sardi's work presented in the Spring of 2010 at PanAmerican ArtProjects:

"Carolina Sardi’s wall installations are poetic equations that dissect the artist’s world. Titling many of her pieces “Associations” Sardi makes precise use of formal artistic elements that resonate beyond aestheticism. As the artist best explains, “Although I work mainly with steel, my pieces have an organic sensibility that reflects my interest in the basic interactions of life.” Sardi’s latest series titled “Constellations” delicately trace celestial paths. The sophisticated Calder-like sculptures are a departure from her previous series of colorful free-flowing installations. Even though these works are made of single pieces rather than individually installed shapes, they possess the speed, and sleek mobility of shooting stars."

 the yellow sculpture on the right above is part of Sardi's Home Cell series

Here is one of the Constellation pieces

PanAmerican used an image of this piece for their 2010 Happy Holiday card

My favorites are these that are sculpted from stainless steel and have been plated in gold, silver and bronze

 the ones above were in styrofoam preparing to be shipped

the one above was in the gallery in Miami, but I see that it is now sold.  

After an excellent visit, we headed out.

Sardi's work is currently on exhibition through July 23 at Galerie Lelia Mordoch in Paris, France and at Cheryl Hazan Gallery in New York, NY through September 3.

In addition to PanAmerican ArtProjects in Miami, Florida,  Sardi is also represented by Swenson Fine Art in Laguna Beach, California.