Santa Fe sculptor Debra Baxter presents a new series of sculptural artworks in her solo exhibition Tooth & Nail. The exhibition opens on Friday, April 27 from 5 to 7 pm, coinciding with the opening reception for Matthew Szösz: Minimal Tension.
“This thing could fail, and it could be a nightmare,” says Baxter. “But who cares?” The Santa Fe sculptor makes artworks that combine divergent materials—metal, glass and stone, for example—so there’s always a risk that they’ll split apart during the creative process. Informed by her passion for armor and weaponry, Baxter charges ahead fearlessly to create elegant and sometimes dangerous objects. Tooth & Nail includes flowing bronze breastplates that hold glittering minerals and metal throwing stars that are cast from lace. There’s also a wicked bronze-and-quartz sculpture from her Smithsonian-collected brass knuckles series. “I’ll often emerge from these crazy material experiments bruised—but I’m never broken,” says Baxter.
