Thinking With My Hands One Sculptor’s Hands-On Approach to Her Materials

Muse Gallery at 52 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia announces its September exhibition of Sculpture in wood by Kathran Siegel, with selections from work spanning the artist’s last 4 years in the studio. This exhibit, titled “Thinking With My Hands,” surveys the processes that Siegel employs as she is creating her work. The exhibit opens on August 31 and runs thru October 2, 2022, with the artist present in the gallery on First Friday, September 2, 5-8p.m., as well as Saturdays, September 10, 17 & 24 from noon-5pm.

Ms. Siegel began her career in the late 1970s as a woodturner. Her forms, which employed stack lamination, lead her to the sculptural forms of Wendell Castle who had been designing furniture using this same technique. From that initial inspiration, her work took many formal turns, first as a part of the Studio Furniture Movement where she was active in the 1980s-1990s. During the last 15 years, Siegel has been constructing carved and sparingly colored forms, some of which she assembles into wall mounted, dimensional “sculptural paintings.” This exhibition contains a variety of these wall structures. In addition, some recent free-standing sculpture is in the mix, referring back to her earlier investigations into furniture forms and their messages.