February 11, 2005 Contact:Cynthia Reeves CAROLYN WEBB INSTALLS “BONE MAP” AT REEVES CONTEMPORARY Carolyn Webb, a sculptor based in western Massachusetts, opens a show of new three-dimensional works at Reeves Contemporary on 535 West 24th Street in New York. The exhibition opens to the public on Thursday, February 26th with an artist’s reception from 6-8 p.m. The work will be on view through March 26th. “Bone Map” is an installation comprised of suspended boat-like vessels, complemented by wall-mounted pieces; all are part of a long-term meditation on the transitory quality of life. Her finely constructed carved and painted wood sculptures are abstracted from nature, expressing essences that are at once corporeal and spiritual. Webb’s vision is to make objects that “resonate with their own truth, that stand on their own as presences, as signifiers of a reality beyond that we see only rarely.” The title of the show is derived from a meticulously crafted series of concentric wood circles, whose connectors are shaped like the joints of bone. This piece, along with other wall- mounted work, is a tour de force of laminated and steam-bent wood that is then polychromed. – in all, Webb achieves the look of timeless artifact and anthropomorphism at one pass. The greater portion of the show is given over to a suspended installation of vessels, each of which is carved from found wood. Floating on a diagonal axis, they simultaneously and paradoxically give the effect of a still river, like a vigil, but also of transport beyond the ordinary. Moving among these boat-like shapes, the viewer enters in and becomes engaged physically and psychologically. Other sculptural elements of the installation recall heads or hearts, also crafted from found wood. Their rough, unfinished surfaces are mute: the memory or portend that imbues them is not for this world. The dynamic counterpoise to the quiet witness of the vessels is a series of sculptural works that is highly colored and suggestive of tensed, coiled energy. Cain/Abel is a piece that recalls the kinetic tension of a bow and arrow; Plot II is a labyrinthan creation that links flora and fauna in a seamless spiral. Each piece answers a totemic call, and in Webb’s hands becomes also a celebration of the fragility of life itself. Webb has been honored with many awards including a recent Artist Resource Trust Grant, a Massachusetts Artist Foundation fellowship in Sculpture, an Artist Residency Grant from the Vermont Studio Center, and the Wechsler Award for Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, including the Brattleboro Museum of Art, the Fitchburg Museum and the Widener Gallery at Trinity College. Reeves Contemporary is open Tuesday through Saturday 10-5:30 or by appointment. For more information call 212 714 0044.