Atlanta-based sculptor Christina A. West creates busts and installations that add abstraction to realism. The pops of color present throughout her work add intrigue into each scene or person depicted. She says that each of pieces start “with an interest in interiority—the thoughts, feelings, psychology within our bodies—often highlighting the inherent mystery, or inaccessibility, of interiority.”
She casts her busts solid with multiple colors in the interiors of the pieces. She then carves into the pieces after they are cast. The result are surreal takes on each’s personality.
A statement offers some insight into why she chooses this specific starting point: “I use the portrait bust format because I’m interested in the expectation we place on portraiture to reveal something about an individual’s interiority. I have always felt that making inferences about a person’s psychology or personality from physical likeness is a highly flawed practice, though we make such inferences instinctively.”
