Profile | WHO IS SERENA KOVALOSKY?
Biography of the Artist
American-born Serena Kovalosky is a full-time professional artist and part-time vagabond. She has traveled throughout most of the Western world studying languages and foreign cultures and recently began researching the spiritual aspect of human relations and the power of the mind through Transpersonal Psychology and the Shamanic Arts. She has met and studied with a variety of artists, providing the foundation for her current work. Kovalosky’s sculptures have been exhibited in shows and galleries in Canada and the U.S. and can be found in private and corporate collections. Her works have benefited the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the United Way, and her Bodycast Art and artistic vision have been featured on Canada’s Life Channel. Serena Kovalosky works "on the road" and out of her Montreal studio.
The Totems for Humanity Project
In an effort to bring the visual arts to the general public, Serena Kovalosky would bring her "tools of the trade" with her whenever she traveled or held an exhibition of her works. On the road with rolls of plaster bandages, Kovalosky would "cast" people with whom she felt a certain connection – children, grandmothers, street people, secretaries, circus performers, …. people from all walks of life shared a part of their soul while the casting process recorded a physical reminder of the encounter. These incredible "out of studio" experiences eventually evolved into Totems for Humanity, a worldwide Bodycast project that will incorporate these casts into a series of totemic sculptures – one for each country. The first Bodycasts for the Canadian Totem were made in 2001 at McGill’s International Festival for Humanity.
At this year’s Festival, Serena Kovalosky will present the Bodycasts she has collected so far – over 35 in all – representing the initial stages of the creation of two Totems, one for Canada (which will eventually incorporate over 100 Bodycasts) and one for the U.S. (which will include 800 Bodycasts). Visitors to the Festival will see how each Bodycast radiates a unique energy and character and how these diverse personalities combine to form the unique fabric which makes up an entire country. When completed, these 10-foot totems will join totems from other countries in an international travelling exhibition, dedicated to promoting a peaceful vision for the future.
The evolution of the Totems for Humanity Project will be updated on a website:
www.kovalosky.com (available Summer 2002)
Bodycasting: The Art of the Wild Soul
"I’ve been creating since the age of 5. My earliest recollection is attempting to put a "feeling" into my art, to create from the energy of the experience, rather that just reproducing what I saw. The technique of Bodycasting allows me to work directly with this energy. During a "Casting Session", I look beyond the form of the person being cast to bring out what lies beneath the physical image. I then create the Bodycast by applying layers of moistened plaster bandages directly to the body. The result is the beginning of a truly original creation, offering a glimpse into the essence of Human Nature. - Serena Kovalosky
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