Cheryl Cowan Buchwald
www.cherylbuchwald.com
My art-making began when I was in the middle of data analysis for my
doctoral qualitative research project. I have been struck ever since by the
parallels between the academic research process and the artistic process.
Both are interested in novel ideas. Both develop from a general idea that
is allowed to take its own form as it is investigated and analyzed.
Questions and assumptions are combined in a quest for new knowledge. The
qualitative researcher observes and probes independent subjects in a defined
environment to enhance understanding of human situations; the visual artist
stretches and plays with concepts and the known properties of materials to
give them new meaning. The form may change greatly according to what the
subject suggests and the discoveries that are made along the way. The
researcher/artist lets the work both speak for itself and determine its own
direction.
Making art appeals to me for these investigative and experimental qualities.
But an equally strong attraction rests in the fact that the visual and
tactile elements of colour and diverse media create limitless possibilities
for expression.
My current work was initially inspired by Ross Bleckner's series of
cathedral ceilings. Over time it has segued into cosmic forms created in
acrylic on canvas, water-based media on paper, and assemblages in copper
wire, chicken wire, molded paper and mylar.