Special to Tiger Media Network
The amazing sculptures of Sayaka Ganz will be on display at the Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History from October 15th to December 30th, 2022. Ganz uses reclaimed plastic objects, such as discarded utensils, as brush strokes; they appear visibly unified at a distance though separated at close proximity. She describes her style as “3D impressionism.” Sculptures in the exhibition include recent installations of animals in motion which are rich in color and energy and create an illusion of form.
The amazing sculptures of Sayaka Ganz have been displayed at the Hermann Geiger Foundation in Cecina, Italy, and the Isle Gallery, Isle of Man. Commissions of work by Sayaka Ganz include a series of four marine life sculptures at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California and an underwater scene in the atrium of the Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral, Florida.
Ganz was born in Yokohama, Japan and grew up in Japan, Brazil, and Hong Kong. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University, Bloomington and a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She has lectured widely, and she taught design and drawing courses at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne between 2002 and 2012.
Ganz explains her art in a video produced by the Hermann Geiger Foundation entitled “Sayaka Ganz: Danze della Natura” which is available online at https://player.vimeo.com/video/62684324.
About her work, the artist says, “My work is about perceiving harmony, even in situations that appear chaotic from the inside. When observing my sculptures up close, one might see gaps, holes and items being held on only by small points; step away, however, and the sculptures reveal the harmony created when the objects are aligned to the same general (but not identical) direction. Similarly, it is important to gain perspective by stepping back from current problems and look at the larger picture. Then one can perceive the beauty and patterns that exist.”
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is located at 3000 Sternberg Drive in Hays, Kansas. Current seasonal hours of operation are Tuesday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 – 6 p.m. For additional information, visit Sternberg.fhsu.edu