Toni Putnam
Trees, 1998
Copper, 320 x 90 x 54 centimetres, or smaller, each
"Creation is mysterious," says Toni Putnam. "I thoroughly enjoy the interaction between what I think is going to happen and what actually happens."
In her work, Putnam is intensely interested in the tactile elements of sculpture, the true "feeling" of a piece that can only be achieved through touch. Each one of these trees has been carefully cultivated. Using welding techniques which are uniquely her own, Putnam focuses intense heat as a force of uncontrollable change. In this heat, each tree "grows" in its own way. Shades of red, green and brown are contained in each piece of metal.
Trees is a hands-on sculpture. The viewer is invited to reach out and feel the unique textures and surface of each work.
About Toni Putnam
Toni Putnam was born in Boston and studied at the University of Rochester, l'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Foutainbleu, France, and the Atlanta School of Art. In 1971, she co-founded the Tallix Art Foundry in Beacon, New York, where she was a principal for fourteen years. During this time she explored and refined the innovative welding techniques for sheet copper that have now become her trademark.
She has sustained a long-time interest in the copper medium and become an expert patinator. She has exhibited extensively in the eastern United States and presented her work internationally in Tuscany, Italy; and New Delhi, India. In 1996, Toni Putnam was elected as a fellow of the National Sculpture Society of America.