Exciting Exhibition by Cary Otis

Cary Otis is my friend Ricky's husband, he is also a talented professional artist and martial arts expert. A few months ago Susan and I went to their house for a making session, Cary was busy creating a large metal sculpture based on the Amazon female image. He allowed us to have a quick go with his plasma tool and I found it really tricky but exciting as sparks were going everywhere when the tool made contact with the metal. My results were .... not at all impressive. Cary on the other hand a master in this craft has created several sculptures which will be exhibited in Cambridge at Baska, Magdalene street, they are really great and inspiring sculptures.
Please see this wonderful work via his Picasa link on his site caryoutis.com
I thought his press release explained clearly his inspiration and I am all for spreading the word about inspirational and historically strong women.

The Press release :
Steel sculptures in a women's fashion shop.
Baska,in Magdalene Street, Cambridge, is daringly playing host to an unusual art exhibition, from 17th to 28th June.
The name of the show is 'Amazonka", and the pieces all derive from notions, half imagined, half recorded historically, of the Warrior Woman.
The bodies of these sculpted women are part weapon, part armour. The artist has worked interwoven aspects of both 2 and 3 dimensional art through the transformation of flat planes of steel into the figures depicted. The sculptures are part drawn, part cut, part welded. They refer to the historical myths of Amazons but they are depicted in a way that is also very contemporary.
" They are very manga, very sexy! ' B. Chenier
The artist, Cary Outis, says, ' Ideas of female power, and hints of how the world might have been 5000 years ago, all meet in the legends of the Amazons, and reports of warrior queens. These works are informed by many years of Martial Arts practice and the way that apparently soft power can carry great internal force.
'The work is a recognition of women as powerful, beautiful and determined. I have chosen steel as the medium because of its strength and association with both armour and weaponry while its sheet nature is reminiscent of the raw material of clothing - textiles.
' I think that this place, Baska, where you might say women choose their armour for a contemporary life, is a great venue to exhibit these works.' The exhibition runs from 17th to 28th June 2011, at Baska, 18 Magdalene Street, Cambridge. 01223 353800. The artist is at caryoutis.com