Sculpture
Seidman transforms everyday materials into figures, objects and furniture that unsettle the boundary between the real and the fantastic.
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Figures
Echoing sculptures of Roman goddesses, the title of Seidman’s Magestra series comes from the Latin word for female teacher. Seidman chose organic materials - coiled rope, oyster shells, cornhusks, raffia, or twigs - to suggest heads and arms. In contrast, Seidman incorporates hardware she often uses in more utilitarian settings to decorate the simple off-white dresses. Safety pins become a necklace when threaded with micro fuel line; copper duct strap decorated with binding posts and washers forms a bodice; annealed copper tubing wraps around a neckpiece; and hardware “cloth” sometimes binds and sometimes drapes the figures. The juxtaposition of elegant drapery with unexpected uses of natural and man-made materials shapes her figures into teachers of the uncanny.
Objects
As part of an altar in the installation Once There Was A House, these sculptural objects each tell a small, discrete story. Displayed on a long decorated table, they are made with the same materials as Seidman’s Magestra series.
Furniture
Seidman’s installation work often includes furniture that combine with murals to fashion sets for sculpted figures. Although sometimes these pieces can be for human use, Seidman always makes furniture that upends the expected.