“I am drawn to sculpting the human form because of its emotive potential and ability to communicate feelings.

Deborah’s line of cement sculpture is both ephemeral and rooted in the mysterious and archetypal nature of the feminine and mythology. The sculptures, follow a line of inspiration where Bridges starts small with maquettes, her prototypes (opposite page) allowing the ideas to evolve. The small sculptures are Bridges way of working through the concept until it becomes clear which to make into the next large piece. Her maquettes demonstrate a fresh artful quality, exploring various expressions. Wanting to portray the feminine as present and powerful, the first two full-scale sculptures in this series come from Greek and Norse mythology.

Maquette 8” Ceramic with Encaustic Finish

PERSONA

Deborah choose to represent the subject of persona because of her own personal interest in Buddhist and other spiritual concepts of awakening. She states “Awakening to the truth of one’s true nature very much involves the deconstruction of the self image we naturally build as we grow into adulthood. We are all full of stories and ideas about who we are - sweet, beautiful, strong, ugly, smart, dumb, and other perceptions. The list goes on and on and its all imagination. We learn to believe these ideas about ourselves and others quite naturally, its part of being human. There is nothing abnormal or wrong about this. Its just that its not who we really are. So, consciousness wears a mask and at some point in our lives we will take these masks off. Maybe not until we die, but maybe sooner than that. The Buddha said to “die before you die” and I think this is what he meant.” “To be human is to wear a costume and play a role or many roles. To see our fellow humans as “strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage” is to see our own and other’s innocence.

The Harlequin pattern Deborah uses in most figures speaks to the characters of the European theatre, actors on a stage. In theater it is the costume which makes the person because there is truly no one inside. The harlequin represents illusion. The fool speaks of innocence and beginning, she is one who has not yet developed any ego layers. She is before persona. The names Bridges’ gives these figures are all theatrical names of Shakespearean characters and other well know characters of the stage.

Elaine 25” x 7” Ceramic with Encaustic Finish

Untitled Torso’s from Persona Series 20”, 17 ”, 20” Ceramic Sculpture with Encaustic Finish

Persona series, Epperson Gallery, Crockett, CA