Beckie Kravetz

Custom Mask Commission

bkss — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 15:29:51 +0000

A film maker in California requested these masks of what are considered to be the “standard human emotions”:

Happiness, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Surprise, and Fear. (She ordered 5 of the 6. Surprise may be added later).

I look forward to see how they are used in her film!

Our America/Whose America? at Ferrin Contemporary

bkss — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 16:51:46 +0000

AUGUST 6 – OCTOBER 30, 2022

Ferrin Contemporary | 1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA

Our America/Whose America? Is a call and response exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.

Beckie is one of 23 artists invited to submit a piece to this timely, provocative exhibition.

Below is her statement about her sculpture titled “Undone”

“For this exhibition, I was asked to respond to a collection of historic, mass-market ceramic memorabilia, some of which depict racial stereotypes that both reflect and feed systemic racism in the United States. Against the current news crescendo of racially motivated violence, biases in our legal system, and inequities magnified by the ongoing pandemic, I was inspired to create this fractured figure of Lady Justice: on the edge of a precipice, robes and flesh ripped to the heart, arms severed, blindfold off, and scales rigged so that a mountain of colored clay balls are outweighed by a single, familiar white ball often associated with white privilege. Like her, the cliché of justice being done has been torn apart — “Undone”.

For full details about the show, please visit the Ferrin Contemporary website.

Human Sundial in “Reflections” exhibition in Cummington

bkss — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 01:22:42 +0000

Beckie’s sculpture “Time to Reflect: A Human Sundial Telling Time and Local History”, will be on display from July 2 – October 31 on Main Street in Cummington, MA.

The work is part of a juried temporary exhibition titled “Reflections”, which is part of the initiative to launch a Massachusetts Cultural District along Main Street in Cummington. The installation is a “Human Sundial”, in which the shadow of a person standing on an in-ground date path (keyed to a specific latitude and longitude) points to vertical hour markers set on an ellipse around the date path. Beckie’s piece is set on the lawn of the Kingman Tavern Museum, the museum of the Historical Commission of Cummington. Each hour marker tells an episode of Cummington history, using ceramic sculpture and signage. The installation also includes ceramic and wooden tiles created in community workshops. The piece is planned as an ongoing public art installation with both artist and community input adding to the work over the course of several years.

For more images of Time to Reflect, visit the Public Art page.

Featured artist at Artsy-Shark

bkss — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 16:43:10 +0000

Beckie has been selected as a featured artist on the Artsy-Shark collectors’ website. Click here to read the beautiful article about her work.

Open Studio Tour, October 2nd and 3rd, 2021

bkss — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:57:09 +0000

Beckie will be participating in the Hilltown Open Studio Tour (HOST)

Saturday October 2nd and Sunday, October 3, 2021 11 AM – 5 PM

On Sunday at 2:30 she will be giving a demonstration–“Sculpting a Really Big Head!”

Please visit www.HilltownArtsAlliance.com for more information

Iris Wooed by Zephyrus at the Norman Rockwell Museum

bkss — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 15:51:33 +0000

Beckie’s sculpture, Iris Wooed by Zephyrus, is part of the Land of Enchantment outdoor sculpture exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum . The sculpture was awarded the judge’s prize for Most Inventive.

Here is Beckie’s Artist Statement about the piece:

My vision as a sculptor draws inspiration from theater and opera, where I have been a mask and puppet maker and designed wigs and makeup for over 30 years. Myths and fairytales are a core part of the theatrical canon, and the creation of imaginary places, characters, and creatures is the essence of that world. While my work as a visual artist focuses on capturing real human emotion, the power of myth and fairytale to illuminate aspects of the human condition often inspires my choice of subjects to sculpt. Emerging from the pandemic year, I wanted to create a work that embodied renewal and hope. The wooing of Iris, goddess of the rainbow by Zephyrus, god of the gentle spring wind, offers a metaphor for entering a time of reconnection and regeneration.

Museum Hours are Thursday – Monday: 10am-5pm and Tuesday: noon – 7pm. The museum is closed on Wednesday. The outdoor exhibition is open to the public at no cost.

The exhibition runs until October 31

Sculpture in progress for upcoming exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge MA

bkss — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 19:00:31 +0000

Beckie’s sculpture, “Iris Wooed by Zephyrus” has been selected for exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts. The sculpture will be included in “Land of Enchantment“, an outdoor exhibition on display from July 10 through October 31, 2021.

“Overwhelmed” selected for Springfield Museum exhibition

bkss — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 15:48:50 +0000

Beckie’s sculpture “Overwhelmed: The Artist in Quarantine Cleans Out Her Office” has been selected for exhibition at the Springfield Museum– This Is Us: Regional Portraiture Today. The exhibition runs February 6–May 2, 2021

Below is the statement about the work that was included with the submission.

Like so many others in quarantine, I dove into some long neglected household projects to focus pandemic anxiety and try to make good use of the enforced time at home. In an early burst of energy, I cleared multiple years of outdated tax files from the attic, but then I had an office (and a closet, and the studio floor) full of boxes of tax papers that needed to be shredded. The papers were a mental and physical burden. Their presence taunted me, and the chaos of the papers and boxes became a metaphor for the cluttered weight of my anxious thoughts. As a mask maker in this year of masking, I should have been bursting with ideas, but I was finding it hard to summon the energy for creative studio time. At last, a creative breakthrough arrived– why not turn this overwhelming burden of office work into a self-portrait of what it felt like to be in the middle of this time in history. Once I envisioned the sculpture, shredding the papers wasn’t taking me away from work, it WAS my work. The creation of the portrait became a fun (and productive) outlet for pandemic angst.

39″ x 36″ x 36″

neoprene mask rubber with acrylic, chicken wire, shredded paper and plastic garbage bag

“Talk to Me” sculpture at the State of Clay exhibition

bkss — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 21:02:16 +0000

Beckie’s sculpture, “Talk to Me”, has been accepted into the State of Clay 11th Biennial Ceramic Exhibition in Concord, MA at LexArt . The exhibition will be in the gallery from May 15 – June 13, 2021. At this time, the plan is for an on-site show in the new Molly Harding Nye Gallery with a virtual Artist Reception and Gallery Talk with juror Julia Galloway on Sunday, May 16.

Recent Portrait Commissions

bkss — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 01:58:57 +0000

Beckie recently completed portrait commissions for a husband and wife 60th anniversary commemmoration. The wife’s brother loved the idea of commissioning a portrait and sat for his own sculpture. All of the portraits were made of fired ceramic with cold wax patina finish.