Sharon Levy's installation entitled “The Wood” is a group of sculptures that examine trees in a series of different ways. The most striking piece when one enters the room is the massive nine-foot-tall “cookie” or cross-section of a tree. Meticulously painted, this work only resembles an actual tree ring, it's actually made of stretched and painted canvas with carved and painted foam rubber serving as the tree bark. In contrast, the thin tree silhouettes show the material trying to return to its previous form. These young pines are made from plywood and wood stain. Along with the cross-section, the viewer is asked to examine their own relationship with time and how they've changed and grown.
Levy says this about her work, “My work explores psychologically charged spaces and objects that trigger feelings of wonder, awkwardness, fear, and isolation. Using materials and techniques from theater props, toys, tents and ‘knock down' furniture I make portable objects that combine the flatness and pictorial qualities of drawing and painting with the physical presence of sculpture. I am interested in the tension that exists between the structural and formal properties of the work and its representational aims.”
