Intrigued by “the uncanny similarity of structures, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, found in biology, botany, geology and anthropology,” Ava Blitz’s installations explore the cycles of life and the passage of time. A background in printmaking informs her work, and is evident through her experimental process, her use of multiples, series and other techniques. In Moby Dick, the relationship of the white concrete form to the earth creates a visual reminder of the epic character in the tale by Herman Melville. The sculpture came about through the artist’s experiments on site at Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, Minnesota where the acres of prairie reminded her of the vastness of the ocean. Working with interns, Blitz sewed clear plastic bags and filled them with sand to create the initial stacked form. The result was a soft, brown sandbag sculpture. The bags were then emptied, filled with cement, restacked, and left to cure into a hard white structure. Over time, the plastic gradually shredded and was worn away by the elements, much as a skin or cocoon is shed, and the uniquely textured concrete units were revealed. Like the natural decay/renewal cycle that the artist symbolizes in her work, Moby Dick has gone through cycles of fragmentation, growth and renewal. In its newest installation, the multiples have been mortared together creating yet another stage in the metamorphoses of the sculpture, and pushing the piece toward architecture. A love of stone and materials from the earth has developed through the artist’s exploration of natural and human history. In her artwork, this translates into an ambiguity between fossil and artifact. Ava Blitz earned her BA from the University of Toronto, and an MFA from the University of Georgia. From 1986 to 1998 she was Associate Lecturer and Fine Arts program Director at Bryn Mawr College. Recent public works and commissions include Beauty & the Beast at Appel Farm Arts and Music Center, NJ; Floating World at the University City Science Center, created under the auspices of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority 1% FRO Art Program; and Seeds of Memory in Tokyo, Japan. Blitz has been the recipient of numerous honors, awards, and fellowships from organizations such as the Japan Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Art Foundation, and Leeway Foundation. She has shown major installations at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA; the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, DE; the Philadelphia Art Alliance; and the Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA. | | 
Moby Dick, 2003
Concrete
36” x288” x 48”
Courtesy of the Artist |
