Big Personalities
When Star Liana York was in high school on the East Coast, she took an arts and crafts class where she learned to cast using a centrifugal machine. “It’s a small and inexpensive machine that they used to use for things like dental casting,” she explains.
York purchased her own casting machine and started working in miniatures. After some early successes, she felt the pull to create larger works. “Miniatures are all about action and energy, but with larger pieces, I realized I could work with subtle energy that seemed to be coming from within,” she says. “I got hooked on that.”
But it was difficult finding a reliable foundry on the East Coast, so York packed her bags and moved to Santa Fe. The move suited her, as she’s had a love of Western subject matter since she was a child.
Her sculptures will be featured at an upcoming one-woman show at Sorrel Sky Gallery titled The Bosque Del Apache, which features sculptures of animals that can be found in the New Mexico wildlife refuge of the same name.
“The variety of wildlife in the Bosque Del Apache is pretty extraordinary,” York says. As a wetland, it contains animals that many people don’t realize live in the Southwest, like skunks, beavers and otters. “Because it’s a refuge, there are a lot of animals that aren’t really afraid of humans, so you can see them up close in their natural habitat.”
This allows York to find the personality in her subjects. In the sculpture Make Way for Goslings, she captures the playfulness of a group of baby geese trailing after their mother. “They are very interactive, and I think these
little gosling chicks encourage viewers to recognize the different dynamics between all of them.”
Another sculpture, called The Lookout, features an unusual subject for a work of art—a weasel. She first sculpted a weasel when she was commissioned to create a series of sculptures for the Ute Tribe that featured the animals significant to each band of the tribe. “I was interested to see which animal sold the best, and over the years, the weasel has been the bestseller, which is so delightful to me because the weasel is so fun to capture.”
The Bosque Del Apache opens in Santa Fe on August 5 with a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and remains on view through the end of the month.
For a direct link to the exhibiting gallery go to
www.westernartcollector.com