ON::View: Sculptor Libbi Ponce delivers artist talk at Sulfur Studios, Feb. 24
While physics and art may seem like separate forces, they are often motivated by the same thing: questions. During their time as Sulfur Studio’s February and March ON::View Artist-in-Residence, the first artist to receive a two-month stay, Ecuadorian artist Libbi Ponce’s work asks the kinds of questions that might point to connections just beyond human sight.
“In my studio process, one of the things that always drives me to want to work, to produce work in general, is when I feel like I have a question or some sort of problem I'm trying to solve or something I'm trying to work through,” Ponce said. “It's kind of my way of figuring out that solution.”
More often than not, their exploration begins with zoomorphic icons or motifs from Andean ancient ceramics that find their way to Ponce through museum artifacts or personal archives.
“Sometimes I find something that I really fixate on and want to recreate, but in kind of a new way,” Ponce said. “Most of the time, they seem to be two-dimensional things, but I'm trying to give more of a three-dimensional life to it.”
Creating three-dimensional life begins with sketches, then measurements. Different dimensions overlap in the wide variety of materials at work in their sculptural and video work. Ponce has used steel, bronze, resin, polyurethane, mortar, grout, terracotta and glass, among others, to bring their work to life, but materials like a friend’s seashell gift bring a personal touch to Ponce’s work.
Those personal touches are also a key element in their residency at Sulfur. While editing personal footage from Ecuador, Ponce hopes to explore the connection between theoretical physics and interpersonal relationships by creating three videos and three-dimensional presentations.
“I'm excited to be able to make a new sort of moving image and go through my archive,” Ponce said. “I think the videos are going to be able to do something else and say a lot of things that maybe the sculptures can't or haven't said yet.”
Dream Logic
To figure out what these new works have to say, Ponce turns to dream logic, a phrase they use to describe their creative process. In dream logic, linear thinking settles into the background while intuition takes over, piecing elements together in often unexpected ways. This not only creates new connections but a unique and powerful creative experience.
“Sometimes I don't know fully why I'm making a sculpture or I don't have a whole reasoning or justification or I don't have the concept fully fleshed out, but I still feel compelled to make that thing,” Ponce said.
Today, these questions are moving down a new path. When Ponce was introduced to cosmology, questions about the existence of co-existing dimensions came into the mix. The twist? We likely may not be able to see dimensions overlapping our own.
To help describe these overlapping, invisible dimensions, Ponce turned to the peacock mantis shrimp, a creature whose unique abilities made Ponce wonder about what it might be like to see those dimensions that are hidden from the naked eye. While humans can perceive wavelengths that create colors, peacock mantis shrimp can see colors, ultraviolet light and polarized light—a whole realm of experience that surrounds us every day yet evades our perception.
Glimpses of signs and communication from late loved ones have also been an inspiration, stirring questions about grief, a recurring theme in Ponce’s work.
“That has kind of sparked my interest in these other things of how the universe is and maybe how the souls of other people are still active somewhere and actively trying to engage with us even if we might not perceive in the same way, that we can't see all the same colors that this peacock mantis shrimp can,” Ponce said.
While Ponce said their largest sculptures have advanced their practice by forcing them to work more modularly, their works inspired by personal memory have also been greatly impactful.
For “Terciopelo,” they created a cavelike installation, featuring a snake fountain, to explore their interest in voids within the land and motifs of the Andean mountains. The installation featured orchids specific to Ecuadorian caves and the hairless dogs that created habitats there. Ponce said this installation was inspired, ultimately, by a desire to be close to both of their late grandmothers. But that understanding took a bit more time than the installation alone. Ponce said the reason they feel drawn to an idea or concept often isn’t always clear until the piece is complete.
“Sometimes I feel like I need to post a lot of things on Instagram or something because it's kind of an accountability to myself. I’ve made works, but maybe haven't posted them because I know I need to give an explanation or some sort of description of what I was thinking in the caption,” Ponce said. “I really have to sit down and labor over it in a way that takes much more effort.”
During this time, Ponce considers viewers’ responses compared to the things their thoughts before and during the creative process, new perspectives opened up through creative works. When those descriptions are complete, the piece gains new meaning.
But for now, Ponce is guided by creativity that lingers everywhere, from the fabric of the universe to the form of a sculpture or even a new favorite outfit.
“I don't think it's bad to say that you like things to be beautiful or that you like to enjoy your surroundings, aesthetically, and what you do every day,” Ponce said. “I think [creativity] is everywhere if you want to notice it or if you want to take the time to think about it.”
As their residency gets underway, Ponce looks forward to connecting with Savannah and celebrating the creativity nestled between the research and humanity.
If You Go >>
What: Libbi Ponce Artist Talk
When: 2 p.m., Feb. 24
Where: Sulfur Studios, 2301 Bull St.
Info: artssoutheast.org
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sculptor Libbi Ponce delivers artist talk at Sulfur Studios, Feb. 24
