Polly Apfelbaum

Polly Apfelbaum’s work is proof that no matter how strange or uncommon or unconventional one’s inspiration for concept may be, the artwork speaks for itself. The translation of concept and theory into a solid piece of artwork is everything to an artist for the piece to be successful, and everything for the viewer to have the ability to make any sort of sense of the painting. While Apfelbaum’s inspiration may be obvious to him in terms of translation into her artwork, the viewer would have no idea what he or she was actually looking at without reading the artist statement. Her inspiration comes from the old Cartoon Network TV Show, the Powderpuff Girls. One would never realize this just by looking at her artwork, which is mandala-like installations, one of which is housed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, titled Blossom.

Deep. The pink one is Blossom.

Blossom is named after one of the three Powderpuff girls, the red-headed leader who is constantly wearing pink and is the “sugar” out of “sugar, spice and everything nice.” Like Apfelbaum’s other pieces, it resembles a mandala and is displayed on the floor. The piece is colorful and elaborate, comprised of hundreds of pieces of hand-dyed velvet that start out in a color-coded pattern and begin to randomize as the rings grow. The strategy of color keeps the viewer’s eye moving around the piece, constantly observing how the color placement affects the hues, tints and tones of each color from one to the next. Blossom is part of Apfelbaum’s “fallen pieces” series, which reflects superheroes and their personas, the name coming from the nature of the pieces in relation to the ground.

Blossom (the art piece. big difference!)

Apfelbaum draws me in as an artist for two strong reasons. First, the fact that her piece is comprised of color, and is completely dependent on color both visually and conceptually. Every group of three pieces of velvet provides a different combination of color and a different effect on the eye. Second, that she draws inspiration from something so bizarre, but commits to it as an artist and sells the concept through her artwork. Although she draws ideas from something that is literally childish and commercial, he translates it into something deeper and more moving, and she uses color to execute it.

Polly Apfelbaum. The Museum of Modern Art. 2010. Web. 16 August 2011. <http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ADE%3AI%3A5%7CG%3AHI%3AE%3A1&page_number=41&template_id=1&sort_order=2>.