Tennessee Woods, 2020

Anne Peabody, (Born 1967, American)

Antique sterling silver leaf and gold sparkle spray paint on glass with a felt backing, (8' x 6' (16 panels)) 

A gift to Kentucky Performing Arts from Mr. Henry Heuser

Anne Peabody's multidisciplinary practice involves correlating human experience and the natural world. She uses various organic and recycled materials, including plants, wood, glass, and metal, to expand and evolve a body of landscape-based art that includes installation, performance, sculpture, drawing, and textiles. Her artwork is intentionally difficult to capture through photography. The artist's compositions are defined by the interplay of light and different materials, resulting in dynamic shifts in appearance that are influenced by the viewer's position and environment. 

 

She began incorporating reflection and mirrors in her work after reading an architectural study that determined people will wait three times longer for an elevator without complaint if they can see themselves in a mirror in the waiting area.

 

The work reflects Peabody’s memory of a camping trip with her husband and his family; years later, those same woods were destroyed by wildfires. “The fragility of the mirror mirrors the fragility of nature”, she said. “Things can disappear in a moment. My aim was to craft a tangible reminder to cherish loved ones and treasured moments while they are present.”

 

Peabody’s path as an artist was shaped in part by childhood visits to see The Kentucky Center’s Art Collection in the 1980s, where Jean Dubuffet’s Faribolus and Perceval and Louise Nevelson’s Night Wave: Moon made a lasting impression. Night Wave: Moon holds special place in Peabody’s heart as her relative, Jane Norton, gifted the work to The Kentucky Center in 1984.   For Peabody, having her own work share space with Nevelson’s is the fulfillment of a longtime dream.