Pan Am Public Art: Art Across Borders Artist
Isabelle Pelissier
Project:
Untitled sculpture, welded steel, 7-ft. high, revised
size: Height: 6' 6'' x 2' x 2' 3''
Site 1: Main Street and Jewett Avenue near the Tri-Main Building.
This chair-like figure has organic features, posing somewhat like a plant made from steel. Associations for the work include referencing Buffalo as a Steel City and part of the Rust Belt that has coerced people to leave. Pelissier wants people, whom she finds so friendly, to stay in the city and to appreciate the positive community environment. She uses opposites, joining the organic and fluid with the solid and static. Her image of womanhood is meant to convey her sentiments reflected simply in these words: "steel" (to symbolize women’s strength), "sit" (to suggest relaxation and enjoyment), and "stay" (to convey commitment).
Isabelle Pelissier attended art school in Paris, France and started doing metal work in New Mexico. She has had solo exhibitions in Paris (1995), Santa Fe (1999), and Buffalo (2000) and her work has been included in group exhibitions at Hallwalls in Buffalo and in Santa Fe, New Mexico.