Background
Paige Stewart (b. 1985 Des Moines, IA) is a contemporary sculpture artist. Her modern abstract sculptures include openings or portals, facial & figural studies, totemic works, and ceramic murals.
Paige thanks her family for their love of art. In her youth she enjoyed the sculptural work of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Andy Goldsworthy available at The Des Moines Art Center.
She graduated from Western State College in Gunnison, CO with a BA in Biopsychology and Clinical Psychology and went on to pursue an MA in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica. While in attendance she recommitted to her soul's purpose, that of creating ceramic sculptures. Thus in 2012 began her self education in ceramics with the launch of her pottery line Soil + Toil. Five years later, in 2017, she transitioned to making sculptural work.
Her art is an outgrowth of her spiritual journey. Each piece seeks a balanced relationship between the varying dualities we, as humans, face. She is fascinated by how we split our very selves into polarities and thus our view of the world around us. One current theme specifically in her body of work is balancing the feminine and the masculine. Another thematic is the idea of the LEGACY, we are each born into and that which we leave behind, individually, communally, and universally. And the question that comes while sleeping or waking; What kind of Legacy are we leaving behind in each moment?
may what moves one, moves us all as one
I am intrigued by the meaning we make from our experiences. How our minds create narratives that have inevitable outcomes if followed. I have witnessed how my own narrative led to depression; and then I changed the narrative by taking responsibility for every thought and feeling. Each of my bodies of work reflects some part of this learned process of healing and integrating. Through sculptural abstraction people are allowed to derive their own meaning and have an opportunity for their own healing. I use clay for its flexibility and fluidity to communicate these ideas.
“Nobody knows what the fuck they are doing at any level, so just go for it.”
This statement may be crass, but it is also one of the most helpful realizations I have ever had. I had always wanted to make sculptures but didn’t until 2017 when I realized no one knows what the they are doing at any level, they are making it up. Everyone, in every field at every level, is making it up trusting that what they have chosen is somehow right or correct. We all are doing the best we can, sometimes following a strict “how to be a person” script but ultimately we have the freedom to choose, to test out who we are and what we want to make meaningful in our lives, figure out what works for us. And ultimately lead a life we love, and make mistakes and take chances. This realization gave me the courage I needed to create the life that I wanted to live, so far it’s working for me, fitting my needs, but who knows I may do a full pivot and write science fiction for the rest of my life.
MAY MY LOVE REACH YOU,
P
