"Olga Octopus Hook"

Rosalie Sherman

"I make hardware that is sculptural and functional. My aim is to bring a sense of fun and enjoyment to its everyday use. "

After many years of making site-specific public sculpture, Rosalie Sherman has turned her attention to the home. In her studio outside of Philadelphia, she creates hardware that is also affordable sculpture for residential dwellings. She creates hooks that are giraffes and penguins, knobs of dogs named Bob and Louise, and myriad animals and people you could hang your hat on, literally. It pleases Sherman to know her little cast of characters is opening cabinets and holding brooms in homes around the world.

The artist first makes her designs out of clay, then casts them into plastic prototypes. If they are to be made in bronze, she takes them to a nearby foundry for casting. She finishes all the work, including assembling, riveting, and patinating. If they are to be made in pewter, she sends them to a mold maker who makes vulcanized rubber molds for her. She casts and finishes most of the pewter pieces herself, although she also has her mold maker cast some of the pieces as well.

Sherman trained as a sculptor at the Philadelphia College of Art, where she earned a B.F.A. in 1968. She has been a sculptor for over forty years and has spent fifteen of those years making site-specific public sculptures, learning additional methods of fabrication along the way. She has also trained at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Polytek in Easton, PA, with Lucartha Kohler at Wheaton Village in New Jersey and Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, and at Peter's Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ.