The Western New Mexico University art collection continues expanding, largely thanks to the New Mexico Art in Public Places Purchase Initiative, with a recent addition being “Linear and Metaphoric.” This ceramic sculpture about transforming the walls that separate us into a symbol of diversity and connection is by longtime Silver City artist Zoe Wolfe, who created the piece in reaction to the momentum in building the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
“The grouping of 18 mid-fired and glazed ceramic bricks create a shrine to New Mexico. The keystone is a lush white – the soul,” Zoe says.
Images reference Mimbreno and Hopi symbolism while abstract patterns are contemporary, and the bricks’ surfaces mimic the textured earth.
“I worked toward a visual balance of symmetry and asymmetry, representing the strengths and diversity of our population, ultimately in harmony,” Zoe says.
“Linear and Metaphoric,” which earned a recent mention in Desert Exposure, now sits upon a custom steel pedestal at the core of the new computer lab and study area in WNMU Miller Library.