OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, June 11, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

VoiceOver explores the narrative tradition in sculpture through the work of three New England artists. The title points to the importance of material choices in the deliverance of sculptural narrative; these choices act as a voice-over leading the viewer through the work.

Amy Podmore spins her humorous and absurd narratives in plaster, bronze, and mixed media. Commenting on the human condition, her figurative scultpures commingle humans, animals, and objects in perplexing juxtapositions. In Measured Rest, for example, a young girl with a Bugs Bunny head stands atop a stepladder wearing galoshes and holding a violin in her hand. The exhibition will also include documentation of Podmore's performances Disappearing Acts: Milk and Powder. As in her sculpture, Podmore's subject matter is gleaned from objects native to her domestic sphere.

Charles Jones' narratives reference history, often pointing a stern finger at heroic missteps and memorialized lost valor. The Oars of Cortes, Magellan's chair, and Pizzaro's glove evoke the era of Western exploration and imperialism. His life-size leather gas mask for an elephant is based on a Swiss zoo's 1938 attempt to create such a device in the lead-up to WWII. Jones' works are united by his highly realized workmanship in cast crystal, metal, leather, and wood.

Jon Laustsen's sculpture and installations depict constrction sites on a miniature scale. Built from 1/8 scale milled lumber and cast concrete block, the works are both playful (like a model) and sophisticated (like a minimalist sculpture). Caught in a transient state of unfinish, works like The Reachers and the Dwellers reflect the artist's interest in "what is to come, what has been left behind, and the fluid space that is present in-between."