Grace of Sense

Full of quiet beauty, Sovern's sculpture sings with her love of life, of the perceived, felt environment. In works like Torso , Rabbit and Lima Bean , natural phenomena serve as springboards for graceful abstractions that wed elegance to strength. Lovers , a nude, embracing couple, breathes a passionate stillness that yields to the orgiastic release of her semiabstract Thrust. Sovern knows how to make the most of the play of light, as in her Plexiglas Facets , a remarkable piece that opens (and looks) like a tall seashell. Her Imagined Worlds rock-scapes and woodscapesputs one in mind of ancient megaliths or American Indian rock art. In this slender volume, Merriam, a freelance writer, traces the growth of this reticent New York sculptor who has exhibited in only a few group shows over the past 30 years. Art photographer Finn explores 20 of her pieces from every angle. (August)