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I met with Nate Craig on a chilly Friday afternoon. Nate is a Summer Scholar
who completed his summer research on Lynda Benglis, a contemporary American sculptor.
Originally struck by Benglis’ unapologetic subject matter in her later works, Nate
was surprised to find himself drawn to Benglis’ earlier work during his time as a
Summer Scholar. He describes her earlier work as a “collection of latex pours that
she pours on the ground. She also has these other beeswax works and polyurethane foam
pours. So lots of sculpture.” His work in the Summer Scholars program inspired his
honors thesis, which he is just finalizing.
Nate is finishing his dual degree this semester in both Art History and Mathematical
Sciences. When I commented on the incredible divide between the two of his disciplines,
he responded: “Well it’s interesting when you think of some artists, they focus on
mathematical-like precision. For many, their art is like a mastery of their paint
or whichever medium they’re using. In their piece, they're commanding the material
and they have a correct design in their mind and that's going to come out on the canvas.
But Benglis kind of rethinks that relationship with her materials by collaborating
with them, and kind of communicating with them. And so in many ways, the latex dictates
the form of the piece due to its own intrinsic viscosity and resistance and other
properties.”
Nate pulled on outside sources for his thesis construction, citing political
ecology theorist, Jane Bennett, and model-making theorist Tim Ingold. By combining
disparate viewpoints, Nate was able to construct an idea about some of Lynda Benglis’
own motives in her art. “She basically sets up an arena and environment where she
can represent materials properties, like if you think latex poured on the floor. It's
a very viscous material. So her sculptures exemplify that property of high viscosity.
Her work is kind of refuting a hylomorphic model that Engle talks about, imposing
a form on matter.” Combining this idea with the information gleaned by studying Lynda
Benglis’ contemporaries led Nate to contemplate the possible feminist inspiration
for Benglis’ abstractism.“Something I found is that, at the time, the art world was
predominantly male so her decision to not follow that highly-controlled model of making
also tied into her feminism.”
The work that Nate completed this summer and in his honors thesis offers a new
perspective on and vocabulary for the previous conversations had about Benglis. “She's
still a contemporary artist. There's not much writing or arguments on her new projects,
so there's not much to go off of, whereas the earlier work, there's a little more
literature to be analyzed.”
Post-graduation, Nate intends to further develop his innovative thinking by attending
graduate school.
I especially want to thank Professor McDonough, who has provided me with guidance
and insight throughout my time studying Benglis and without whom I could not be more
grateful.
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