About Kerry O. Furlani

My acute awareness of touch, my passion for physical expression, and my affinity for natural materials has led me to this life as a sculptor.

All of my slate work is made by hand with chisels and mallets; a sensitive and traditional approach to carving from which I derive much pleasure and a gratifying sense of belonging to, and keeping alive, an ancient tradition. Light and the rhythms from my handwork are vital in directing me to the contours and resolution of my forms. 

Most of the images from my slate relief work are translations first conceived in large charcoal drawings. These works on paper represent the germination of my ideas. They map, through their ghost lines, my search for meaning. 

Often my starting point is a compulsion to portray and release the tensions and layers of my emotional world. Natural and geometric forms are the visual language I use to access these emotional narratives; delight and darkness and my experience as a woman are often prevailing themes. Honing into a narrative or title can help me tighten, strengthen, and finalize the work.