The Stained Glass Artwork of Judith Schaechter

Here is a statement from Schaecter about what drives her work:

"My interests are not particular to me and my thoughts about them not necessarily original (until, hopefully, they become stained glass panels!). My main interests are sex and death, with romance and violence the obvious runners up. I'm trying to be as cliche, sentimental, and decorative as possible--not as a strategy for ironic commentary about how stupid sentimentality and cliches are, but because this is the stuff, that time and time again, I am obsessed with, in love with, and that I have faith in."

I find this statement particularly interesting because I am dealing with some of these very same issues right now in my work. There seems to have been a war against sentimentality in art during the 20th century. I really think those walls may be breaking down as the 21st century begins to define itself. I think cynicism will eventually become the new sentimentality. I hope so. I am sick of the cynical and intentionally ironic--it's so low rent.

Posted by Paul Hina at May 17, 2005 11:09 AM