“Immaculate Silence” Encaustic Painting and Sculpture by Sasanqua Link Featured at Montserrat’s 4th International Encaustic Painting Conference

BEVERLY, MA – Montserrat Gallery is pleased to announce Immaculate Silence, an exhibition of Vermont-based artist Sasanqua Link. The wax and metal sculptures from the Corporeal Relic series are on view in the Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery from June 11 through July 9, 2010.

Curated by Montserrat Gallery Director Leonie Bradbury, the exhibition is held in conjunction with Montserrat College of Art’s 4th International Encaustic Painting Conference, June 11-13, 2010.

Link’s sculptures explore the relationship between the body in its natural state and its interface with clinical, fabricated realms. Constructed primarily of beeswax and stainless steel, Relics consists of representations of isolated human body parts mounted on bare white tiles or confined in metallic encasements. The work combines associations from the medical world, as seen in metallic forms resembling physician’s tools, and the corporeal realm, conjured with soft waxy constructions resembling our malleable bodies.

Exquisitely constructed, the pieces demonstrate Link’s background as a jeweler and metalsmith. With realistically sculpted ’flesh’ in stark contrast to the gleaming metal rods that pervade the work, the artist contrasts the sterility of an examination room with fragmented portions of the human body. At once delicate and severe, the Corporeal Relics series explores bodily vulnerability and dislocation.

Link will speak about her work during the Encaustic Conference on Friday, June 11, from 2:30-3:30 PM in the Schlosberg Gallery.

WHAT: Exhibition: Immaculate Silence: Sasanqua Link
WHERE: Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
EXHIBIT DATES: June 11 through July 9th, 2010
EVENTS: Friday, June 11th, 2:30 - 3:30 pm: Artist Talk, 5 - 8 pm: Artist Reception

For more information on the exhibit, please contact Shana Dumont at 978-867-9604 or visit us at http://www.montserrat.edu/galleries - events hotline: 978.921.4242 option 3

ABOUT MONTSERRAT COLLEGE OF ART
Celebrating it’s commencement May 28, 2010, students of this world-renowned art institution receive Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in concentrations including Fine Arts, Animation and Interactive Media, Book Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Painting and Drawing, Photography and Video, Printmaking, and Sculpture. At present, nearly 95 percent of Montserrat students rely on scholarships to achieve their first-rate fine arts education. Please visit http://www.montserrat.edu or call 978-921-4242. Montserrat College of Art is located at 22 Essex Street, Beverly, MA 01915.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY - SASANQUA LINK
Introduced to craft-making and fine arts at a young age, Sasanqua Link is a sculptor and conceptual artist who focuses on “interrelationship of interrelationship of the body, mechanical devices and the natural world” in her work. After studying at Skidmore College, she received her MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from the University of Kansas. Link has taught fine arts courses at several colleges and was the Artist in Residence at the Oregon College of the Arts and Crafts in Portland. In addition to her teaching and studio work, she has recently worked as a jeweler for high-end designer boutiques in New York.

Link has exhibited her work at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and Firehouse Center for the Arts in Vermont and has been reviewed in Sculpture Magazine. She lives in Burlington, Vermont. Additional work can be found on her website at http://www.sasanqualink.com

Contact Information

Jo Broderick

Interim Dean of Advancement

Montserrat College Of Art

Contact via E-mail