Artist: Sheryl McRoberts

This series of clay relief sculptures was commissioned in 1993 thanks to funding through Minnesota Percent for Art in Public Places, which funds original art as part of the renovation or construction of state buildings. At the time, construction was underway to connect Student Services, the Gymnasium and the Library Building on the M State campus.

In each of the four pieces, Sheryl McRoberts attempted to capture light, texture, movement, repetition, color and a shallow space.

Although I referenced photographs for the images, I tried to capture the movements and adjustments that occur through observation. This gives the images a sense of correction and adds to the energy of the piece. Although there is no human presence in the works, I see the final pieces as a synthesis of abstraction and figuration.

McRoberts earned her BA from Augsburg University, her MA from St. Cloud State University and her MFA from Indiana University. She taught drawing, sculpture and three-dimensional design at Normandale Community College in Bloomington for more than 25 years.

Her work has been published extensively, and she received a Fulbright grant to carve stone in Italy in 1995. She has worked on a number of commissions, and in 2016 she received a McKnight Fellowship from the Northern Clay Center.