Sybil Archibald

50 Broadview Avenue
Maplewood, NJ 07040

www.sybilarchibald.net
www.sybilarchibald.com/blog
www.facebook.com/sybilarchibaldart
→ View Sybil Archibald's Gallery

I invite you to stop by my studio and enjoy a moment in time with me. There will be colorful painted sculptures both large and small of inspirational people along with vibrant abstract paintings, etchings and even a few contemporary illuminations. And to sweeten the pot, artists Wendy Bellerman with her cool black and white compositions and Thea Clark and her weather inspired works will be showing too. Hope to see you on the tour!

Best,

Sybil


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTIST STATEMENT for the Earthen Vessel Series
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells up.
Kabir says: “Listen to me, my Friend! My Beloved is within.”
-Kabir

---------------------------------------------------------

My hands are frozen fists. Small things like holding a paintbrush or opening a door handle challenge me. For 17 years, a rare condition has taken me from leading an active life to a more contemplative existence. My hands are a prison of limitations but also a gateway to the freedom making art - funnels for the flow of creative energy into the world.

We live in a culture of complaint. Everything is picked apart, deconstructed and found wanting. My current body of work, “The Earthen Vessel”, steps out of that box to explore the relationship between physical suffering and creative energy through the lens of praise. My subjects are real people whose lives profoundly influence me. People like Hildegard of Bingen, a charismatic 12th century abbess whose pain shifted as she found her voice, and Beethoven, a composer who confronted hearing loss, are mapmakers and inspiration for creativity in the face of great physical difficulty.

I rip open each of my subjects to explore the source of the creative process. Using their physical form and personal histories, I demonstrate how creativity flows into the world through physical suffering. My work praises their great efforts and accomplishments while acknowledging the inherent difficulties of being a physical creature.

My painted sculptures also map my own inward journey, a path through countless trials and delights seeking this creative source. I enter deeply into the creative process and find endless surprises. This journey becomes sweet compensation for all the physical adventures I can no longer take. Thus, through the creative process, physical suffering transforms into deep healing and joyful abandon.

-Sybil Archibald 2012 www.sybilarchibald.net

View Sybil Archibald's Video


"My sculptures focus on the relationship between physical suffering and creative energy and how we bring creative energy into the world. The subjects are real people whose lives profoundly influence me. People like Hildegard of Bingen, a charismatic 12th century abbess whose pain shifted as she found her voice, and Beethoven, a composer who confronted hearing loss, are mapmakers and inspiration for creativity in the face of great physical difficulty."