"I grew up in Connecticut, in a rural area that was
becoming a suburban bedroom community of New York," says sculptor
Fritz Buehner, who lives in Brooklyn and teaches at the School of the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. "Making these carvings is a response
to that." Based on HO-scale railroad models, the generic tract houses
he carves out of logs reflect Buehner's concern with suburban sprawl.
"The carving process operates on a metaphoric level because carving,
or removing material and clearing space, is very much related to what
it means to clear and build upon a landscape," he says. Some of the
works (which are on display at the Maiden Lane Exhibition Space in Manhattan
through May 1) take the metaphor further, depicting scenes of impending
violence such as a soldier hiding behind a rock or an army tank parked
in a driveway.
