KRISTEN DEFONTES

Storm Series 2011- 2021

Bracing Stone, 2021

Limestone, steel, reclaimed lumber (Tappan Zee Bridge, 1955-2017)

Permanent installation

George Landis Arboretum, Esperance, New York

Bracing Stone, 2021 composed of three limestone blocks weighing a total of 2275lbs, steel and reclaimed wood from the Tappan Zee Bridge, Bracing Stone was commissioned by the Individual Artist Grant for Schoharie County. Inspired by the book Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi by Hayden Herrera, I created this piece to explore the process of stone carving, something I had never attempted before. The composition signifies balance and support through scale and placement of the shaped stones. Each stone balances on the other with an underlying foundation supplied by disparate objects. All three elements usually classified as structural support materials, now function in a similar capacity with an alternative intent. This idea, and the placement of the piece overlooking the Schoharie Valley where Hurricane Irene hit hard in 2011, an event that directly affected me and my family, is a symbolic gesture to the strength of community and allows viewers to frame the work in their own ways. Together they become part of a shared environment.

“This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CREATE Council on the Arts.”

Nest Series, 2020

Cast bronze-nails, yarn, swaddling cloth, marble

1 (23.8 x 6’’) 2 (19 x 5 x 4’’) 3 (14 x 7 x 4’’)

Composed of cast bronze and marble, the “power nest” is safe from harm. She built her nest in a precarious place; she saw a robin do the same after. On the edge of the sill, there was nothing to hold its grip.

During Hurricane Irene, 2011, My family and I fled to higher ground with our newborn child and returned six months later. For the next ten years, I made work about the aftermath of our experience. Nest Series, 2020 along with Bracing Stone, 2021 are the final pieces of this body of work.

Storm Series, 2011-2021

Storm Window, 2016

Reclaimed basement window, nails, glass, screws

(21 x 35 x 5'' )

Metaphor and the perceived energy of objects drive the work in this series. A reaction to the effects of Hurricane Irene (the 2011 flood), on my life as a parent and artist. Becoming a parent during an unexpected course of events while living in a compromised environment sparked a deeper journey into abstraction, changing my aesthetic and working method almost completely.

While observing and sorting through debris, our family’s survival and my artistic process began to overlap and become one. I started to think about the possibilities that awaited beyond the difficulties of the present moment. Interpreting the meaning of household building materials such as nails and electrical work boxes, drove me to retain them for use in my work. By temporarily letting go of my printmaking process (a balance of control and chaos, the clean and the dirty), I was able to shift my creative consciousness toward sculpture and mixed media.

Using a combination of traditional art materials such as cast bronze, canvas and paint…along with wood, stone, steel and various found objects. I hammered old nails into salvaged windows, creating in a sense, my own “power figures”. Since then, I continue to connect creative thoughts with the realities of daily life in my work. Each piece I make acts as a symbolic gesture, embodying a release and display of emotional energy.