Zofia Chamera
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Rooted Stag
Black Locust Bark
24” x 14” x 31”
2020
Timid
Black Locust Bark
30” x 15” x 15”
2020
Artist Biography
Artist Zofia Chamera (b. 1998) lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is an MFA candidate in the Studio Art program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art graduating in 2022. Chamera received her BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2020. She explores her fascination with the natural world and how the viewer experiences it, using her sculptural work as a means to make her own discoveries. Chamera’s foundation is in traditional mediums such as clay, wax, and bronze, however she recently began exploring handmade paper and how it can be applied to sculpture. She is constantly pushing the structural boundaries of this medium and with that challenging the conflict of fine art versus craft. Chamera works as a paper making shop monitor and a graduate teaching assistant for figure modeling at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Her work has been shown in the National Sculpture Society Gallery in Manhattan, New York and local galleries in Baltimore, MD.
Artist Statement
As a figurative sculptress, my foundation is in using traditional mediums such as clay, wax, and bronze; however, my most creative works come from exploring non-conventional materials such as tree bark and handmade paper. Experimenting with different fibers such as, flax, cotton, kozo, and abaca, I’ve found that each has its own physical properties ranging from shrinkage, fiber size, texture, and transparency. I layer the fragile, wet sheets of paper into rubber molds to create a solid structure, which on the surface appears to be delicate, but in fact, embodies the strength of any plaster or wax cast. From the scale of a true forest to an over-life-sized figure, I push the structural boundaries of paper as a sculpting material. Allowing the process of hand papermaking to guide my work, I focus on the craft and how it breaks away from classical fine art materials.
Growing up I always spent countless hours out in the woods getting my hands dirty; out there I discovered the tactility of different materials, and this piqued my interest in investigating new mediums. This fascination with the natural world and my surroundings has constantly inspired my projects. I draw, sculpt, and observe from life, revealing those small surface details that tend to go unnoticed by the inexperienced eye. As my practice has evolved, research and exploration have become crucial, from studying a specific animal’s anatomy to experimenting with different fibers; my work represents the essence of life-long learning.