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Renee Stout - Page 2

© Anne Douglas

Renée’s work tends to be small in scale, but each piece seems to resonate with an internal, mystical force. And yet each sculpture, each work of art, is fundamentally an assemblage of other objects. Renée does this not just to be frugal but as a way of expressing a life philosophy: “When I look at society, I see the emphasis on money and material things…. The reason I use found objects in my art is to say to everyone, ‘Use what you have and be positive, whatever it is that you have, try to make something good from it.’” Just as the creator of an nkisi infuses his piece with power, so too does Renée believe in the power of her art: “I do feel that art can heal. I know it heals me. If I’m upset about something, and I sit there and stew about it, it just gets worse and worse as I play it over in my mind. But if I decide I want to take these emotions and in some kind of way, make art where I can channel them and try to work it out, when I’m done, I feel a lot better. The art heals me personally, and hopefully, when someone else looks at a piece, they are looking at something that can help heal them too.”

Images:

http://www.uam.ucsb.edu/Pages/stout.html

Reference:

Berns, Marla C. ”Dear Robert, I’ll See You at the Crossroads.” Santa Barbara, California: University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1995.

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