TOTEMS
Contemporary Wearable Sculpture
July 14 – 31, 2007

Jet, Copal Amber, Jade & Horn	Jade, Silver, Vermeil & Onyx
Abalone, Silver, Coral, Hematite & Onyx	Amber, Resin, Vermeil, Jade & Onyx
Metal, Silver & Onyx

Marilyn Arnold Palley began her career in art as a soft sculpture and fibre artist. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science and subsequently studied at design institutions in Europe and with Jack Lenor Larsen at the Haystack School of Crafts in Maine. Her “Architectural Fibre Sculptures” are included in museum, corporate and private collections worldwide. Since 1970 she has exhibited her work in more than 30 group and one person shows.

Palley now devotes her skills to creating what she describes as “Wearable Totemic Sculpture.” The totems include natural elements such as: coral, shell, bone, stone, amber, mammoth ivory and ancient Asian jade amulets and beads in combination with plastic, metal, glass and bakelite. Many of the objects used in these works were collected during extensive world travels with her husband on their 46’ sailboat, “The Unlikely.” The Totems are suspended from deftly knotted leather cords, a skill acquired from her years of weaving and sailing. Evocative of Pre Columbian, Maori and Japanese adornments, the Totems also relate to the 20th century aesthetics of Isamu Noguchi and Louise Nevelson. Palley’s creations are personal documents; each is unique in composition, form, color and texture. Each conveys a connection to time, place and history. The Totems can be equally appreciated by men and women as sculpture and as wearable art.

Marilyn and her husband, the art dealer and author Reese Palley, reside in Key West, FL and Philadelphia, PA. She looks forward to a forthcoming one-person show (the first time an American artist will be so honored) at the Danish Museum of Arts and Crafts (Dansk Kunst Industri Museet) in Copenhagen come October 2007.