ARTIST

"I prefer one flower in a vase rather than a bouquet." Says sculptor Carol Gold, revealing much more that her preference for flower arranging.  Here statement gives insight into her predilection for simplicity which she lovingly transfers into her art.  Her recent sculptures seem to have no constraints - buoyant nudes that appear to dance through life on their own terms, resilient and at ease.

Gold does not sculpt Hollywood's version of the ideal figure, "Surface beauty lacks humanity," she says.  Though she is fit and trim. Gold prefers to sculpt figures depicting hefty, well-rounded nudes, some with sagging bodies that the average person can relate to.  Yet the highly stylized sculptures have such an appealing combination of flowing lines, solid form, emotion and movement that they are enticing and beautiful - and they seem to know it.  

Because Gold is so intent on portraying human traits at their most basic level, she feels putting clothes on her figures would add a superficial layer that might get in the way of showing a character's inner vision.  And because she's so focused on speaking through body language, Gold purposely makes the head, feet and hands of each of the nudes proportionally small and leaves their faces vague.  "It is the body that counts," she states emphatically.

The joy Gold experiences from the technical process of bronze casting resulted in a 12-year partnership in a foundry business, "I found working hands-on with the metal (was) magical, "she admits." There is a flow to pouring and welding." Though Gold is no longer a partner in the foundry, she is still highly involved in the entire process--from making her own molds to chasing the metal and applying the patina.  "The sculpting part is so creative that I am always into the aesthetics of a piece," she relates.  "But making molds requires some engineering. Part of my brain really likes that."

Born in Hartford, Conn., Gold grew up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts.  While attending Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and Boston University School of Fine Arts.  Gold focused on graphic arts, drawing and woodcuts.  Kept busy raising a family, it wasn't until more than 10 years after any formal art training that Gold completed her first sculpture - a figure of her daughter in clay.  Encouraged by another artist, she had it cast in bronze and discovered her true medium.

For more than 20 years, Gold's work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and Canada where she has received numerous awards, including the John Cavanaugh Memorial Award in 1989 form the National Sculpture Society located in New York City.

They mystery of the unknown in the human character is what excites Gold to create simple contemporary silhouettes that dance through life touching us all.