Nuvo

Indianapolis Art Center Exhibition

"Petra de ora" sandstone from the St. Meinred quarry, wood and glass are combined to create sensuous, defined, sculptural forms that feed off of instinct. Clear blown glass balls, central to all the pieces, spur an inborn attraction with their water-like shine from catching the light. They're also the perfect size to fit comfortably into a hand like an ancient pestle or tool, which only stimulates an innate tactile yearning. Further feeding on primordial senses is the placement of these vulnerable and slightly oblong looking balls between squarely cut stone as in "Bon Ami." Looking like a large raindrop or bubble, the glass defies its seeming flimsiness to hold the unlikely weight of the perfect stone. The implausibility is not an outright or harsh illusion, but rather a subconscious subtlety. The contrast of time trapped in the striation of the stone's gritty texture, with the free sense of movement and weightlessness exerted from the glass, is present though the two meld into a comfortably soft aesthetic. Eight children filtering through the gallery, captivated, exclaimed "wows" as their testament to this work's success. It tinkers with the laws of attraction. Chalos-McAleese, an art teacher of 20 years, received a Lilly Renewal Fellowship that enabled her to build this exceptional body of work.

- Mary Lee Pappas