Artists Registry

Sassona Norton

Bedminster NJ United States

http://www.SassonaNorton-Sculpture.com
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In 2003 I won the international competition to design and install the 9/11 memorial in Norristown, Montgomery County seat, Pennsylvania.
I knew that no memorial could express the pain - so private and individual – of the victims and their families. Yet, we needed to mark the collective experience of pain and sorrow, courage and determination, help and solace that united us all on those difficult days.
When first announced, the County Commissioners stipulated that the memorial had to include a steel I-beam that had been salvaged from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. What better, I thought, could symbolize the tragedy than the I-beam? Distorted, twisted and charred, it looked nothing like the building part it had been intended for. What else, I thought, could stand for the emotional impact of power and human touch, if not a pair of hands that by their sheer size could magnify the expressions of reconstruction and possibility for tenderness and hope.
When completed and installed on the plaza of the Montgomery County court house, two years later, the steel I-beam soared into the sky at 20 feet, and the gigantic bronze hands that cradled it softly, emerged from a tilted bronze column that was anchored to a large disc, also in bronze. The edge of the disc was circled with the words: “September 11 2001; the many who died; the many who fought to save others; memories never die”.
Hands and yearning have been an essential part of my sculpture for quite a long time.
I see hands as the true carrier of emotions, and view yearning as one of the most important elements of the human condition. Expressed also in the large over-life-size whole figures I sculpt, yearning is a propeller for change. Contrary to the romantic interpretation, it is an active emotional power that enables us to cross over to another plateau.
Not unlike the 9/11 memorial, my sculptures deal with the notion of duality from a contemporary perspective. The figure - whole or part - is always larger than life, muscular, and strong, while its movement expresses a desire for elsewhere, and carries a dialogue between solitude and reaching out; alienation and connectedness; power and vulnerability.
To concentrate on the message I omit unnecessary details and exaggerate others; “rough” surface creates “rawness”, and the lack of any “period” markings adds an aspect of timelessness that expands the scope beyond the current era.

The personal interpretation of the figure in Sassona Norton’s large and dramatic bronze sculptures can be traced to her experience as a painter.
Born in Israel, Norton had her first solo show of paintings in her early twenties, shortly after graduating from Tel Aviv University, for which she was praised by the Jerusalem Post as having “personal vision”. While participating in group shows and winning various prizes, she also published articles about art in “Yediot Achronot”, the largest daily newspaper in the country.

In 1974, Sassona Norton immigrated to the U.S. and enrolled for the next four years in the Art Students’ League, where she won the Isabel Bishop Merit scholarship.

In 1980, “A Yellow Night”, Norton’s large reclining nude, was published in “Twentieth Century Masters of Erotic Art” by Bradley Smith (Crown Publishers, NY), which also has works by Picasso, Rodin, Calder and Dali
In 1981, Norton was included in the show “Eight Young New Yorkers on the Horizon” which traveled throughout the country.
In 1983, “The Rain Prayer”, a large painting of hands, was published in the 16 volume series “Discover Art” by Laura H. Chapman (Davis Publications).
In 1984, a second solo show in New York, at Sutton gallery, was praised by the critic Peter Fingesten for its “strength, poetic, erotic, masculine, intellectual and sculptural nature”.

A hiatus, following the loss of her husband, convinced Norton that her visual language was indeed purely sculptural, and she decided to focus exclusively on sculpting.

In 2000, Norton won the Huntington merit medal for her sculpture “The Edge of Rest” at “The National Arts Club” show.

In 2003, after winning an international competition, Norton was commissioned to design and build a 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania. The main component of the $100,000 memorial consists of a pair of 8 feet tall hands that rise on top of a tilted column and lift into the sky a torn and burnt I-beam from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Underwritten by Montgomery County, the 18 feet tall memorial was installed on the plaza of the County Courthouse and unveiled in September 2005.

In 2006, Norton had a major show of her sculptures at the Morris Museum, Morristown New Jersey. The show, at the 4500 square feet of the main gallery, was extended by popular demand to last over 6 months. The hard cover book “Sassona Norton Sculpture”, published by the museum in connection with the show, includes articles by Ann Landi and Hilarie Sheets of ARTnews and The New York Times.

“The work here”, wrote Star Ledger art critic, Dan Bishop, “has vigorously modeled surface and expressively exaggerated details…the sensual tension of bodies or limbs in convulsive movement is everywhere…the human figure is struggling to break free, possibly the oldest tradition in sculpture that we have”.

In 2007 The Morris Museum chose to celebrate the opening of a new wing with a show that centered on Norton’s sculpture. The show titled “Sculpture by Sassona Norton and from The Permanent Collection” will be on view for the entire 2008.

The show coincided with the publication of Norton’s sculpture in the prestigious Henry Buhl art calendar. The sculpture “To Whom Do I Pray” was purchased by Henry Buhl in 2005 and is included in his collection of sculptures of hands that is scheduled to be shown later in 2008 at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach, Florida.

In February of 2008 a video of Norton’s 9/11 Memorial titled “A Memorial Journey” was shown at the international art fair in Stockholm, Sweden.

In the summer of 2008 Norton will show her large sculpture “First Rain” in the Sculptors Guild outdoor installation titled In-Site on the grounds of Governor Island in New York.
Sassona Norton is a member of The International Sculpture Center, The National Sculpture Society, The Washington Sculptors Group, The Sculptors’ Guild and The Royal British Society of Sculptors (ARBS).

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

SCULPTURE PRIZES:
In 2002 her sculpture “The Edge of Rest” won the Anna Hyatt Huntington bronze medal in the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Annual Juried show at the National Art Club, New York.

PUBLIC WORK:
In 2003 Norton won an international competition to design and build a 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania.

2005: Installation and unveiling of the 9/11 memorial on the Montgomery County Courthouse Plaza, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

MUSEUM SHOWS:
A major exhibition of Norton’s sculptures was held at the main gallery of the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey, from June 2006 to November 2006.

“Sculpture by Sassona Norton and from The Collection” at the Morris Museum , Morristown New Jersey, from 2007 to December 2008

RECENT PURCHASES AND PRIVATE COMMISSIONS:
Henry Buhl, New York
Ivan Greenstein, New Jersey
Swaenee Hunt, Massachusetts
Lee Longell, New Jersey
Peter & Meryam Migliorato, Florida
Sally Minard & Norton Garfinkel, New York
Elizabeth Palay & Ed Feige, Wisconsin
Craig Ponzio, “Art Investments”, Colorado
Morris Museum, New Jersey

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“LifeStyle”: February 2008, “Building an Artistic Future” by Alina Makhmovetsky.
“LifeStyle”: February 2008, 9/11 Memorial on Front Cover, “Public Art: Top Designers & Architects”.
“Art and Antique” Weekly: January 4, 2008, “Morris Museum Presents Sculpture In New Space”.
“The Putnam County Courier”: March 15, 2007, “Martin Luther King Jr. Stature and 9/11Memorial Crafted in Putman County” by Eric Gross.
“Somerset Magazine”: Fall 2006, “Bronze Ambition” by Holly Lehr-Hahn.
“NJN Television”: September 2006, “Art as a Healing Force” feature Sassona Norton 9/11 Memorial.
“The Star Ledger”: June 11, 2006, “9/11 memorial and Morris exhibit in good hands” by Dan Bischoff.
“Philadelphia Inquirer”: September 9, 2005, “9/11, The human touch – Monument honors 9/11 Sacrifice” by Jeff Shields.
“Philadelphia Inquirer”: July 5, 2005, “9/11 Memorial Takes Shape” by Jeff Shields.
“Times Herald”: December 7, 2004, “Artist Talks About Power of Sept. 11 Memorial” by Carl Hessler, Jr.
“The Bernardsville News”: July 8, 2004, “Sculptor to create a piece of history” by Sandy Stuart
“T.V.: Channel ABC”: Action News April 2004.
“Associated Press”: April 24, 2004 News.
“The Mercury”: April 24, 2004, “Montco Picks Sculptor for Sept. 11 Memorial” by Margaret Gibbons.
“Intelligencer”: April 24, 2004, “Hands of Hope to Rise at Court House” by Melissa Milewski.
“NPR Radio”: April 23, 2004, Interview in connection with winning the international competition to design and build the 9/11 Memorial in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
“Philadelphia Inquirer”: April 23, 2004, N.Y. “Beam in 9/11 memorial” by Jeff Shields.
“Time Herald”: April 22, 2004, “Sculptor to create Sept. 11 Memorial” by Margaret Gibbons.
“Philadelphia Inquirer”: January 30, 2004, “Finalists named for 9/11 Memorial” by Jeff Shields.
“Artspeak” January 1984 - Review of Sutton Gallery show by Peter Fingesten.
“Discover Art” by Laura H. Chapman, Davis Publications, Volume V, Chapter 20: “Hands”.
“Twentieth Century Masters of Erotic Art” by Bradley Smith, Crown Publishers Pg. 168.