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Cast-Off Items Transform Into Art

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By CHERYL KUCK, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 31, 2007

PLANT CITY - The Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce's offices overflowed recently with members and guests of the East Hillsborough Art Guild who came to listen to Plant City sculptor Monica Naugle talk about how she creates her contemporary works and to view slides of her spring 2007 exhibit at the Polk Museum of Art.

The self-taught sculptor from Colombia creates her artwork from objects she finds, such as recycled copper, thorns, bullet casings, paper and piano wire.

'We are such consumers. I am ashamed. We have so much garbage; it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and we don't worry about the consequences of what we throw away. I take the garbage and make a statement with it or turn it into something beautiful,' Naugle said.

The artist describes herself as a primitive minimalist whose only tools are her hands, a weaver's loom, two pairs of pliers and her imagination. 'I don't draw at all. My design is all in my head,' she said.

She added that 'imagination is the only thing that keeps one from utter boredom.'

This sculptor weaves her work in much the same way as fabric, using a loom to create metal grids that become three-dimensional skeletons for her work.
Art Guild members were encouraged during Naugle's appearance this month to touch her woven metal sculpture, something rarely allowed in a museum setting.

After the presentation, guild President Betty Jones said, 'Strong statements by an artist are capable of causing awareness and change in the world. We were all fascinated by Monica Naugle's work and how she stressed the importance of incorporating one's own ideas, passions and societal views in art.'

Naugle's works are in public art collections such as at the Jan Platt Regional Library in Tampa. She has had several public shows, including Salt Creek Galleries in St. Petersburg and The Florida Craftsman Show.

Claiming sculpture is her hobby because she has been unable to completely support herself through art alone, Naugle works as a Pilates instructor at the Plant City Family YMCA.

'When I start a project, I work right through until completion. If I have to constantly worry about time and money, my work wouldn't come from my heart,' she said.

Correspondent Cheryl Kuck can be reached at wkuck@tampabay.

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