7nm CHRYSALIS wood, fiber, paint, resin 58", x 23.5" x 10", 2004 $15,000

Selected permanent collections: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; National Museum of Art, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York; De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut; LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York; Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin; Denver Art Museum, Colorado; Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kwang Ju Museum, Korea; Montreal Museum of Art, Canada; Houston Museum of Art, Texas. Recipient: Fellowships, American Crafts Council, Connecticut Commission for the Arts; Grant, National Endowment for the Arts

12nm Baggage, mixed media, 43” x 50” x 6”, 2007, $20,000

Statement: I seek mystery in the shadows of the work. The netting's effect is to blur the shape within. There is often paint on the surface, which can at times be invisible and at other times obvious depending on the light, another important element of my work. I want the openness to convey a sense of energy as the viewer moves around the sculpture. My work retains implications of containment and psychological complexity, while focusing on the human form and often the land-scape. I am engaged in a process that weaves the personal and universal together. The interlacing suggests a delicate quality symbolic of the human condition, but conversely, the pieces could also imply the strength of steel mesh. In many of my works twigs and branches are left inside, and are visible in an eerie way through the exterior of the sculpture, often suggesting connections to the human skeletal or circulatory systems. Despite the repeated use of the same basic stitch, no two are exactly alike. This conveys the intimacy and imperfection of the human hand while creating a movement akin to the cross hatching of a pen and ink drawing. The interlacing technique that I use makes it possible for me to convey the fragile, the hidden, and the mysterious qualities of my work, in psychological statements that invite the viewer to interpret and contemplate my art. I am still drawing, but with fiber.                                                           Norma Minkowitz

10nm REBIRTH OF VENUS fiber, wire resin, paint 58" x 54" x 8" 2004 $20,000