About Amy Brier

Carved directly in stone, my work combines traditional carving techniques with contemporary art ideas such as public interaction and appropriation. While my main means of production is carving, I do not limit my efforts to a single “signature” medium. Instead, I move between various media such as glass, stone, paper, metal, and sand.

My art is unique on many levels. For example, in the Roliquery^TM series, I follow the basic semiotic premise of binary oppositions, which defines much of our language. Every image carved is either in the negative, which when printed becomes positive, or vice versa. Viewers complete the creative process as they roll the Roliquery^TM and create images in the sand. The carved stone is a tool in the creation of an image, rather than being simply a singular art object; it impresses the fluid and fugitive sand with an image from the fixed and permanent stone. Even though this final act is playful, it often leads to serious aesthetic investigation of how forms are made, and what it means to be an artist. By interacting with my carvings people are moved from passive consumption of art as commodity to an active contemplation of contemporary art with a playful touch.

I believe that the goal of contemporary art is to forge connections between people. Such connections are made through both the artist and the artistic product. Thus I divide my time equally between the studio and activities that bring art experiences to the community. On the local level, I promote the beauty of the native limestone as an artistic medium and keep alive the art of direct carving, with a strong emphasis on historic carving techniques and styles. The internationally recognized Indiana Limestone Symposium, of which I am co-founder and director, brings artists from across North America, Europe, and Asia to Indiana.