Nora Chavooshian is a New Jersey based sculptor with an extensive exhibition history throughout the United States. Her works are placed in numerous private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe. Her exhibitions include those with Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC; Max Hutchinson, NYC; The Los Angles Women’s Building, CA; Trenton City Museum, NJ; Salem State College, MA; Monmouth Museum, NJ. Among her rewards and commissions she received a California Art Council Grant to curate a show of San Francisco women’s art work at the Women’s Building, Los Angeles, CA. Her public projects and commissions include a commission of a bronze sculpture for Essex County Brookdale Park playground, and an exterior sculpture commissioned for the University of Minnesota Arboretum’s State of Art Bee Research and Discovery Center, where she collaborated with a beekeeper to incorporate honeycomb forms into her bronze sculpture. Widening her discipline and arena as a sculptor, she has been an award-winning theatrical and film set designer, designing for directors John Sayles, sculptural set pieces for director Martin Scorsese, videos for Bruce Springsteen and Madonna among many other film and video projects.

Statement:

My work involves the tension between what is hidden and what is revealed in the cracked surfaces of the sculptures. Cracks are the places where mysteries can start to be unearthed, undercurrents can be plumbed and light can come through. Many works employ geological references counterpoised with human generated elements. My recent work has incorporated the imagery of hand work of women from various cultures whose populations have been in peril of extinction, due to political and social injustices. The radical cooperation that women have harnessed mirrors cooperation in the more than human world. I’m exploring the vegetative network of mycelium which exemplifies symbiosis and connectivity. Making mycelium sculptures focuses on the life affirming act of growing material as opposed to extracting from the earth. The materiality of interwoven hyphae bridges the act of art making with interconnectedness, while also demonstrating new and sustainable building possibilities.

nchav@verizon.net
www.norachavooshian.com