For Breathing Underwater, Chamberlin transforms the gallery into an immersive field of new sculpture made from hardwoods including cedar, purple heart, and mahogany. Chamberlin builds and refines her minimal forms with hand and power tools, sometimes leaving the wood's natural color intact, but more often scorching the wood to blackness. 

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Compelled by the idea that "nature grows sculpture," Chamberlin's work investigates dynamics of movement and form that were a point of fascination amongst a specific group of 20th century artists including Brancusi, Noguchi, and Hepworth. Chamberlin is also sensitive to the vulnerability o the living world; her work acknowledges the "intelligence" of the once living materials that she uses to build her sculpture. 

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Chamberlin lives and works in Montclair NJ. She has a BFA from Indiana University and an MFA from Tyler School of Art. She has taught at Tyler and MSU. She is a grant recipient form the the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and has been making rigorous sculptural work in her Montclair studio since the early 1980's. This is her first solo show in the gallery.

 

An essay by Etty Yaniv accompanies this exhibition.