Gerda Lattey –Artist Statement –2007: First of all I would like to thank you for your interest in my work. I was born in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada and I have lived in BC my entire life. Beside the ocean with my family in Long Harbour, Saltspring Island is where I have called home for the past thirteen years.

Carving stone involves a process of subtraction. I love the unforgiving medium, the process of pushing on something that pushes back and ultimately gives itself to the form that the artist is creating. I think that it is wonderful that I am carving a piece of history. These stones have seen many millennia and together we get to render that history, share my view, my mark, and my idea of beauty, nuance, vulnerability and honesty.

The Abstract- Carving Abstracts is a break for me. While sometimes the process can take longer than a planned concept or idea, I find that I can play with the stone. I enjoy indulging in the color or changes in hue in the stone, adding or leaving texture, allowing light to shine through or reflect off, imbuing the shape with the fine distinction of the natural elements that surround me in my day to day life of living on an island.

Representational- this concept for me is a touch more difficult to explain. My more figurative pieces tend to deal with emotion, mind expansion (thinking outside of the box), escape from the everyday or commonplace. If I am carving something animalistic, there is usually a political idea behind it, whether it is an endangered species or just the fragility of that animal in relation to the delicate balance that the earth needs to sustain itself. While the majority of the piece is represented by the figure there is almost always an element of abstraction to all my work. For me the abstraction allows for a freedom in the work, non conforming shapes allow for me, the carver to be less bound and for you the visitor to indulge in form and shape without being constricted to absolute realism.

Direct Carving is a process that I use in all my work. My more representational work is planned and researched thoroughly and because of my geographical location, being somewhat sequestered, I do a lot of my research over the Internet when in the planning stages. I have carved in Chlorite, Alabaster, Marble, Limestone, Soapstone, Onyx and have had my sculptures cast in Bronze. I am self-taught. I discovered many years ago after picking up a piece of stone that I was lucky enough to be blessed with an aptitude for carving. This chance experience has changed my life.