by Peter Selz

Ann Weber’s large organic sculptures exist in the borderland between abstraction and figuration. Many of her swelling bodies evoke the female form, while others are products of her ingenious imagination. We are also reminded of chess pieces, doughnuts, balloons, and bobbins. Some appear like bowling pins, and one looks a little like a bugle horn. Her materials are as simple as can be: salvaged cardboard, which is cut into strips, held together by staples, and then shellacked for protection. The polyurethane coating lends a rich gloss to the finished works. Depending on the cardboard, the work is likely to be off-white, beige, or brown. Some of the pieces are enlivened by color, depending on the labels or advertisements. Weber’s work, using stuff that is readily available, recalls Arte Povera sculptures by Mario Merz, Jannis Kounellis, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, who worked with simple, everyday materials. 

See the entire review in the print version of May's Sculpture magazine.