Formulation, as a term, has the interesting distinction of relating to issues of both development
and reduction. Formulation can also be understood in terms of systemization. All of the artists
presented here address inherent aspects and dualities of form as subject: flatness vs.
dimensionality, the interior vs. exterior, reality vs. abstraction, construction vs. appropriation.
These works are made through a combination of processes, including photography, painting,
installation, assemblage, sculpture and optical illusion. If the centerpiece of sculpture is “the
form”, then this visual exchange of materials and methods brings us a vibrant overview of
contemporary approaches to form itself.
Sophia Chai is a photographer who explores space and depth as it is perceived through the
camera lens. The artist uses the floors and walls of her studio as a canvas of sorts, upon which
she directly paints the illusion of forms and perspectives. These warped and angled situations
are transformed through the camera’s placement to appear flat and straightforward. This playful
interaction with space draws the viewer closer and forces one to question and interpret what is
actually being seen.
Adam Frezza & Terri Chiao form the artistic team Chiaozzaand they work in a variety of
techniques. Their Paper Plant and Lump Nubbin works are playful interpretations of desert flora
that hover between nature and pure imagination. These brilliantly colorful sculptures are made
from an amalgam of materials: paper pulp, sculptamold, painted paper, acrylic paint and
concrete.
Tai Yin Ho is a sculptor who often combines disparate found materials into delicately balanced
mediations on the component’s shape, texture and possible uses. Intimate in scale, her
sculptures are often mixtures of natural materials, such as rocks, and mundane industrial fair,
such as packing foam and felt. This allows her to investigate a range of interpretations, not just
in terms of formal structural arrangements, but also of tactile sensibilities, positive and negative
space, time and strength.
Jon Pylypchuk is a mixedmedia artist that is best known for his humorous depictions of
loveable losers. His characters often takes the form of anthropomorphized characters such as
cigarettes, furry critters and, in this case, a toilet. His multiple edition Untitled (published by Eric
Gero Editions) is representative of this aesthetic. A porcelain toilet reproduction has been given
googly lightbulb eyes, and sits upon a scaleddown shipping crate. Alluding to an earlier work,
the crate is sealed, and houses an original drawing by the artist that, due to its enclosure, will
never be seen. The work is also an homage to Marcel Duchamp’s famous “Fountain” sculpture,
and cleverly combines ideas of utility, interior and exterior space, and the repurposing of
material.
Ivan Stojakovic also combines materials, often cardboard, drywall, colorful plexiglas and live
succulent plants. His work exists somewhere between painting and sculpture, and between
lifesustaining and deconstructive systems. Stojakovic’s landscapes are at times literally that,
based on topographical features, water systems, etc. At other times what we see is a purely
abstract experiment, where the emphasis is a balance between a forms surface, the interior
space, and the artist’s interventions that unite the two.
Sculpture Space NYC is ceramics and sculpture center founded by artists Magda Dejoseand
Andrew Kennedyto foster creativity, concept and collaboration. SSNYC offers the space,
equipment and advanced education to allow artists to explore and expand their work. In
addition, SSNYC offers a range of classes, lectures, workshops, artist residencies and ongoing
exhibition program.