Carlson, Jodi

CAN’T BRING ME DOWN

Jodi-Carlson

“‘Can’t Bring Me Down’ was originally titled ‘Flower/Vase.’  Sometimes people want a name for a sculpture but I can’t think of an apt one right away.  Over time I realize what the sculpture means to me, and then I rename it. For me, this sculpture is about the indestructibility of the human spirit.” “Can’t Bring Me Down” was created for an outdoor sculpture show in Garrison, NY.  The venue is a huge working cow farm.  The site dwarfs everything in it.  I thought it would be funny to pop a giant vase with a giant flower onto the landscape for the show . . . like plucking a flower from a garden, amplifying it with a giant vase, and plopping it back into nature.  This piece also represented a departure from repurposed materials, if only temporary.  I was looking to cement my skills as an aluminum fabricator by forcing myself to weld hundreds of inches of seams.  It worked.”

Jodi Carlson is a metal sculptor who creates abstract and semi-abstract art.  She has shown her works in a variety of sites in the Tri-State (NY) area, and is proud to have large scale pieces currently on display in front of City Hall in Yonkers, NY, and on the Clifton Arts Center in Clifton, NJ.

Jodi earned a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988 and has trained under sculptors David Boyajian of The Sculpture Barn in New Fairfield, CT and Robert Perucci of Silvermine Guild Arts Center in New Canaan, CT.  She also earned an MS in Occupational Therapy from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1993.

For more information please visit  www.jodicarlson.com

Here, artist Jodi Carlson describes why she called her sculpture “Can’t bring me down.”