Pati Beachley: July 2020
Pati Beachley (1971) is a sculptor living in Pittsburgh. Originally from Baltimore, she moved to Pittsburgh to teach at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, where she serves as Chair of the Department Art & Design and Professor of Art. She exhibits her work actively in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee. She has had multiple solo shows, national shows, curated, and juried exhibitions. Her studio and foundry is in Pittsburgh where she casts all her own metalwork. She attended University of Maryland College Park for her undergraduate degree, studying with Anne Truitt and John Ruppert. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond studying with Liz King, Myron Helfgott, Howard Risatti, Kendall Buster, and Lester Van Winkle. She contributes volunteer service to the larger arts community in Pittsburgh by serving on multiple boards of arts organizations. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors and the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh.
http://patibeachley.com/
“The rope castings stems from my interest in fiber and text. I choose words that complicate meaning or contain multiple meanings depending on the viewer's interpretation. For instance, tender can be tender as in soft parts, tenderloin, tender heart, or how we pay. Often the chosen words pinpoint a gendered reference as in the casting, candyarm, which switches to armcandy. Made from rope, the words use fiber as a metaphor for things being twisted, bound, or tied together. They are coated with lipstick finishes indexing a physical connection to mouth, to parole. Each word chosen has a personal affinity to my own experience, as I am paying attention to events around me. It seems that words have become a slippery place for meaning and communication as of late.”
