Trudy Skari

Animals are so present in our understanding of how we navigate the environment, they protect us from our rigidity and ground us in our mammalian firmament. They are however always other, even if 

we anthropomorphize them to aid in our understanding. I attempt to create animal-ness that functions on a level of knowing and not knowing at the same time.

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Artist Bio

Born into a road building family, Trudy’s formative years were spent moving all around the state. She observed the world from the seat of a D-9 Cat while watching her father make cuts and fills to create a road bed.

At the age of twenty, Trudy set out to study psychology; her unconventional spelling landed her in the Philosophy department. That academic pursuit circled around to the study of depth psychology and world religions. She has been greatly influenced by mythology and creation stories from around the world. Other influences are Joe Campbell, Carl Jung and the open prairies of Montana.

Trudy has been a farmer, county commissioner, teacher and currently works for the State of Montana. Her working life has taught her about the importance of community, and the strength of diversity and conversations about difficult topics.

When she is not in her studio she likes to walk around the community picking up subtle clues about how it is that we all fit together in this complex cell we often refer to as reality.

Trudy is represented in Helena, Montana by 1+1=1 Gallery. Her ceramic sculptures will be available for viewing during regular business hours at the gallery located at 434 N. Last Chance Gulch.

Artist Statement

I find that the objects I make are sometimes part of an unspoken narrative. Rather, they reside under or beside the formulated word or thought. At times the piece goes dallying around in some poetic realm and finishes sentences I was not aware I had uttered. The realm of image is forged in a different light than the realm of word. Like the visible spectrum the imaginal realm has a range that is just outside of the awareness to human senses but wide open to human insight, consciousness and our desire for making meaning.

Animals are so present in our understanding of how we navigate the environment, they protect us from our rigidity and ground us in our mammalian firmament. They are however always other, even if we anthropomorphize them to aid in our understanding. My attempt is to create an animal-ness that functions on a level of knowing and not knowing at the same time. It all works best when a balance is found between the gesture and the intent.