Marjorie Schick
(this exhibition took place in 2007)
For artist Marjorie Schick, who makes wearable sculpture/jewelry,
no adornment could be over-embellished or overly outrageous.
Marjorie Schick sculpture neck pieces
photos by Rosa Phoenix
"Sculpture Transformed" describes these fantastic jewelry pieces.
Upside-down, inside-out, backwards, forwards, layered, folded, collapsed or extended . . .
every surface is covered with riotous colors, intricately-painted patterns, varying textures, sensuous shapes or sharp angles.
Marjorie Schick
The best pieces are made of materials like painted wood and papier mache.
All are multi-dimensional and transformable,
meant to function both as sculpture and as jewelry to adorn the body
(though most are impractical to wear).
detail
Sculptures may be worn as collars, headdresses, armbands and rings.
Frequently the pieces are scaled large, to extend the body into space.
Schick's work embraces multitudes of possibility.
Not only does her work involve painting, craft and sculpture,
but it also transforms the body into a work of art.
Her pieces frame or showcase parts of the body
—face, hands, arms, torso—
to make these ever-mobile and expressive parts
into kinetic sculptures themselves.
Some pieces, like a set of rings, may be worn on the hands, or
assembled into a set of custom pedestals that looks like
a whimsical chess set.
Marjorie Schick rings
Many pieces are painted in a rainbow-prismatic palette
for a jewel-like effect that makes the pieces wink and sparkle.
wrapped, painted nails
book series in a circle
Schick plays with forms as varied as curling rams' horns, snakes, hairy fibers,
clothespins, horseshoe nails, geometric shapes, or long sticks seemingly
connected randomly at acute angles like a game of pick-up sticks.
Marjorie Schick
All the pieces are visually delightful, and, I can only imagine, tactile pleasures as well.
shimmering irridescent scales
Seeing the sculptures on mannequin forms and worn by models in accompanying photographs made me wish I could see the pieces on living, moving bodies,
perhaps incorporated into movement or dance specifically choreographed for Schick's work.
In fact, Schick's early work was once exhibited in a show called
"Choreographing the Object: An Evening of Visual Art + Dance"
in which dancers interpreted the pieces.
scarf and tool belt made from painted wood
detail of pieces
the artist's tool belt
Schick's work is pure delight, calling for the theatricality of a performance.
The sculptor entices you to want to put on the art,
transform your body into a work of art,
and show it off!
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