• Have you always create, and especially sculpture ?

 

I first started drawing.  I drew ALL THE TIME.  I was alone. An only child with no neighbors and no one to play with.  So I drew my friends.  We had no TV, but we had music and nature and two great dogs.  I still missed people very much so I became an artist that drew the figure.  Maybe I wanted to draw my friends.  My parents were very athletic so I could see muscles on them and the science of learning anatomy and human proportions became important so I could draw people realistically.

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• How did you get involved with art ?

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I was drawing from a very young age and even remember doing nude model life drawing classes at the age of ten.  But the most profound memory I have is when I was 9 years old ; I walked past an art gallery in town.  There were shiny bronze figures of dancers in the gallery window.  I knew that I could do that.  I didn’t know how, but I had an immediate burn in my soul to capture that 3D form in metal.  From then on, I chased sculpture as my muse and devotion.

 

• When did you first expose your work ? 

 

To the public ? I never counted myself as being a professional artist if I sold to people I knew, so the first sale I made to someone I did NOT know was a very BIG deal to me.  This was back in 1996 when I left my 3-year apprentiship to continue on in art school, 3000 miles away from home.  Before I left, I put the single bronze sculpture I had, in a gallery window. (the gallery was on the same street as the one I had walked down when I was 9 !).  I was now a busy art student in Philadelphia when the calls from the gallery started coming in every month… sold one ! Sold another ! And another !  Wow- what excitement I felt ! I knew I was on the right track and the universe was rewarding me. 

 

• How hard was it to get a recognition ?

 

Well I did not become an artist for recognition- that was first and most important.  Second, its very hard.  And if you don’t graduate with an MFA from a prestigeous art school, the future is a long road of hard work and hard times.  But that is perhaps a good recipe for a great body of honest work.

 

« Just keep your head down. 

Believe in yourself !

Find your own voice in your own studio space.

And produce ! Produce! Produce! » 

 

Thats what I told myself.  And it has really helped.  Looking back, I can’t believe how much I have done in 25 years.  I am still a mid-career artist, so hopefully I will still get some recognition.  Fingers crossed ! ;)

 

• How can intimacy shows in your pieces of work ?

 

I am sorry but I don’t really understand this question.

I use live models in my studio.  I look into thier hearts.  I become inspired by them.  I do NOT have an EGO with them.  I love all of humanity and I want to show this love in gentle,  powerful and vulnerable ways.  In doing so, I share a bit of myself every time.  I suppose good art always has to be very intimate—and honest. (she perfectly answered).

 

• Where can we see your work expose permanently or not ?

 

Currently it is not permanently found in Europe, publically—only privately.  It can be seen in many art galleries permanently in the USA.  My website has a list.  https://paigebradley.com/galleries.php

 

• Can you talk about Expansion (2004) ?

 

It’s a bit of a story !

I had no idea the image would become so powerful, to so many.  Creating an image is more of a gift than a power.  And being given this gift, it is an obligation to constantly give that gift away in order for it to have any power at all.

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Author : Marie Bagi, Contemporary art history and Philosophy, PhD.

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Published on July 2rd, 2020