Metamorphosis - The Fiber Art of Judith Scott: The Outsider Artist and the Experience of Down's Syndrome

by John M. MacGregor

Judith Scott, a fifty-five year old woman with Down's Syndrome, has spent the past ten years producing a series of totally non-functional objects - obsessively wrapped, knotted, braided fiber masses revealing hints of concealed scavenged objects, pieces which loom large and wraithlike or sit as small tightly wound secrets. Her works, to us, appear to be works of Outsider Art sculpture, except that the notion of sculpture is far beyond her understanding. As well as being mentally disabled, Judith cannot hear or speak, and she hs little concept of language. There is no way of asking her what she is doing, yet her compulsive involvement with the shaping of forms in space seems to imply that at some level she knows. Does serious mental retardation invariably preclude the creation of true works of art? Is it plausible to imagine an artist of stature emerging in the context of massively impaired intellectual development? This lovely hardcover book is illustrated with beautiful color photographs by internationally renowned photographer Leon Borensztein.

Genres: Art

183 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999