BIO Over time Erica Stoller’s two-dimensional paintings were bent, folded and moved right off the wall. Her recent work refers to the suspended d cables of the ever-present communication network. Industrial elements are repurposed into colourful hanging pieces, installed with consideration of the surroundings, indoors or out.
APPROACH Erica Stoller has been paying close attention to the wires and cables from telephone pole to electrical pole, our ever-present roadside companions. Her new sculpture reflects these basic elements in configurations that include loops, knots, tangles, the confusions and bypasses that indicate repairs. For a number of years, she has built sculptures of repurposed industrial materials. These include plastic plumbing pipes, foam pipe insulation, cord, foam and rubber tubing, metal bead chain or window sash chain, wire cable, and other simple hardware connectors. Durable, colourful elements are used in simple, forthright manner. Nothing is hidden. The selected elements are assembled in an informal, unplanned manner. In many cases, the suspended sculptural pieces have moved off the wall and into three-dimensional space, hanging from and between walls.
PROJECT Her sculpture speaks to the conjunction of art and the built environment with reference to wires and communication cables. Running from pole to pole, the cables are essential for the transmission of power and information. They are vital and are in plain sight, yet they remain a nearly invisible part of the landscape. While the work is made of impersonal industrial materials and elements, the selection and assembly bear the mark of decision-making and handwork. One might see this as comparable to calligraphy or to map making—incremental, little by little, hand crafted, yet industrial and functional, with individual elements creating the whole. The artwork also points out how peculiar it is that these aggressive structures are so rarely noticed… until service is interrupted.
