Sculptor, Gwynn Murrill states that her “primary point of departure when beginning a new piece is the memory of a form that caught my attention.” She is recognized for her animal forms, cats, coyotes, and birds, which are reductively composed in sleek, streamlined shapes that she describes as “simultaneously abstract and figurative.”
The current exhibition of small human figures represents a departure in both subject and style. With a more hand-built quality, made of plaster and epoxy, these intertwined human forms resemble clusters of Pompeii bodies that were buried in ash. The sculptures with just two figures, which Murrill calls “The Wrasslers”, were inspired by erotic Japanese Shunga prints.
Some of these figures ended up being stacked on top of each other, thus forming another series, “Pyramids.” Several of the plaster pieces were later translated into bronze. In all her sculptural work, Murrill emphasizes the relationship between positive form and negative space.