A statuesque figure

Artist Merike Lugus brushes a finishing glaze on "Metamorphosis" in her studio. PHOTO BY TED AMSDEN

By GILLIAN BARFOOT
Staff Writer

"About four years ago, painting came to a standstill," recalls local artist Merike Lugus.

"I was frustrated with painting. But sculpture has become very liberating."

Merike, whose first show of sculptures opens at the Art Gallery of Northumberland on Sunday, painted primarily in oils for 25 years before moving to the country just east of Cobourg.

"Ever since university, I always thought the main thing was to know myself," she says.

"There's always been such a tremendous turmoil of emotions inside me -- that's why I do my kind of art. I want it to have an emotional punch. That's why I've stuck to the human form for so long -- because it's the most direct way to express what's inside me.

"It's been a long journey of self-discovery."

Much of her sculpture has been created by using moulds in combination with a variety of treatments and materials, including plaster and stones, fibreglass and epoxy, and a hard plastic combined with resins and fibreglass cloth.

"I like to experiment with how many ways I can use the same mould and not repeat myself," she explains.

In some cases, she has created moulds of human heads, hands, feet and shoulders, by using a blue goo called ply-o-life, which firms into a rubbery texture in about seven minutes.

"It's been a great learning process for me. I've been building up so many techniques, but I've only scratched the surface. Every single piece has a different technical problem to solve," she notes.

"I feel there's a lifetime of exploration. With each discovery, a new door opens."

As she has gained experience in creating sculpture, she has found that people react in different ways to her pieces.

"I think intensity is something that interests me very much. But people are made uncomfortable in different ways," she says.

"I've learned something about artistry. I've learned if you temper the intensity with sheer beauty, integrity of the piece, then there are a lot of artistic things that come into consideration before you hit with the intensity.

"It allows you to look at something without looking away."

The sculptures on display range from the joyous mood of the Garden Butterflies to the meditative Metamorphosis and the darker vision of the Exquisite Bind.

"I try to disregard curatorial language," Merike adds.

"In the meantime, I have to try and figure out why I have all this fire inside me. The best I can hope is that the work will resonate with other people's internal fires."

The exhibition opens January 17 and runs to March 1. The artist will be present at an opening celebration on January 25 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Cobourg Daily Star, January 15, 1998, page 7

[Reproduced here with the permission of The Cobourg Daily Star, Gillian Barfoot, and Ted Amsden.]