Constance DeJong metal

Constance DeJong metal by Reed, Arden. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780826333247.

This retrospective account of Constance DeJongs artistic career begins with the Steel Drawings of 1978 and ends with the Four/Three series of 2002. During this period of stylistic and theoretical change in the art world, DeJongs is a story of invention within consistency, as each new series grows out of the preceding one in unexpected ways. DeJong is sensitive to metal, which she employs not as a tool but for its own sake. She is a poet of steel and copper, of stain and patina, plying the boundary between sculpture and painting. She brings out the denseness of metal but also dissolves its heft. Her compositions are at once hard-edged and mysterious; her Light Drawings use empty space to do the work of metal sheets. She works with line to wed the illusory character of painting to the substance of metal. This rich collection of photos captures the essence of DeJongs work. Complimented with descriptive text by Arden Reed, and an interview of the artist conducted by Gus Blaisdell, Constance Dejong metal vividly documents the evolution of DeJongs art. Constance DeJong teaches in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of New Mexico.