Visiting artist discusses her works made from repurposed materials

The viewing of the distressed rubber tires and all different types of other media formed into magnificent sculptures brought passion and emotion amongst the audience on Thursday, April 23 at 6 p.m. Chakaia Booker’s presence brought a glimpse of her artwork to the room. While wearing a magnificent headdress, made out of several patterns of cloth, she walked around the Museum Education Room at GCSU, presenting her artwork on a slide show to all the individuals in the room.

“I wear a headdress because it is art and I sculpture myself,” Booker said.

“I found the artist talk to be really interesting,” said sophomore, Katie Justice, “Especially when someone in the audience asked her why she wore the wrap on her head and responded about how there is no difference between her and her art.”

While going to graduate school, Booker got a degree in ceramics. Her love for art came from how and why things got put together.

Along the way, she collected items such as clothing, knives and forks, and then expanded into more commercial items, such as sheetrock and rugs. She started with smaller pieces and worked them into a larger form, similar to sewing, and then each individual piece ended up being part of a whole.

With no car, Booker usually spent four hours searching for materials, whether it was wood or her most famous medium, rubber.

“The material is infinite. I think there will always be rubber,” Booker said.

Rubber is also a medium that is cheap and can make an art piece stand out from the rest with its uniqueness.

“It does not matter what the medium is, but the outcome is what matters,” Booker said.

Living in New York City gave Booker an opportunity to put her experiences and viewings into her artwork. For one of her pieces, she chose to focus on the homeless in the city. Using discarded wood to create this piece, the theme behind it was about how mostly women in the city were homeless and how they came into full bloom.

While many of her sculptures involved the use of rubber, she also used media such as dried fruit, photography and painting.

One of Booker’s sculptures that stood out from the rest was called, “The Milk Carton Installation.” Each milk carton stood six-feet tall with writings on each one, describing societal and chaotic issues happening in the world.

“I was intrigued by her ability to relate milk cartons to issues going on throughout the world today,” said freshman, Patrick Robertson.

Booker’s influences are not necessarily influenced by people’s work, but the appreciation of the work itself. For example, she is influenced by the textures of Romare Bearden’s work and the patterns from Jacob Lawrence.

The theme behind this lecture series called, “The Culture of Women,” expresses the passion of women artists and the influence they have in the world today. Chakaia Booker has inspired many individuals with her talented ability.

“You can become an artist as long as you keep on trying,” Booker said.

Many of Booker’s sculptures can be found in her studio in New York, other studios and outside parks.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on May 1 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry