Artists Come Out in Hundreds For Bounty of Ashokan Reservoir Driftwood

BlueStone Press, February 20, 2015 , Page
Artists gather driftwood of choice at the Ashoken Reservoir. Photo courtesy of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.
Artists come out in hundreds for bounty

of Ashokan Reservoir driftwood
Jillian Nadiak
BSP Reporter
Nearly 200 artists participated in a
driftwood giveaway at Ashokan Reservoir
on Jan. 23 according to The New York City
Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP).
When Cottekill resident artist Katalin
Pazmandi, a second-year MFA sculpture
student at SUNY New Paltz heard about
the event on the Sculpture Department
Facebook page, she was excited to acquire
some driftwood for her thesis project.
Pazmandis thesis, an outdoor installation/performance piece, involves a series
of gates leading to a hexagonal structure.
The theme of the installation is dying in a
sense that the spirit stays alive, she said.
Pazmandi arrived at the event before it
began. Many artists had done the same.
The atmosphere was cheerful and easygoing, she said. It was very mellow.
People were nice to each other and they
didnt fight for wood.
Since Pazmandi was looking specifically
for longer pieces, she knew she had to find
them quickly, but she didnt feel pressured
or rushed. She compared the event to a
community gathering of artists because a
lot of them actually knew each other.

Many artists enjoy using the driftwood
for various kinds of artwork. Although the
driftwood isnt normally sold, removing
the driftwood directly from the reservoir
is prohibited. This explained why so many
artists jumped on the opportunity to attain
the weathered wood.
The DEP regularly removes driftwood
that is carried from Esopus Creek into the
Ashokan Reservoir. The driftwood piles up
in a portion of the reservoirs west basin
and is removed so that it does not interfere
with the local boat launch area used by
fishermen.
Pazmandis installation will include
one gate made of driftwood, representing
water. That moment when the earth dissolves into water, the first stage of dying,
when the image of self and body takes on
a formless and blurred state, she said,
describing her work. The driftwood offers
the perfect symbolic meaning for this part
of the project.
Pazmandi specializes in making
multi-media sculptures. She said that
her interactive structures invite people to
think about themselves, meet their subtle
selves, and/or get a sensory experience of
a deeper reality while entering the space.
Cottekill artist Katalin Pazmandi poses

with her work in progress.
The most important part in multi-media

sculptures is that you can touch, feel, taste,
smell and think in a way that is different
than just looking at an art object for 10
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seconds, said Pazmandi. I create installations so the audience can have an experience with the piece. I am trying to give a
profound experience to people about what
happens if you slow down for a minute,
enter a sacred chamber or really experience your own existence.
The interest in driftwood from Ashokan
Reservoir far outpaced our expectations,
and DEP was delighted to provide this raw
material to the many talented artists in the
Catskills, Hudson Valley and beyond,DEP
Commissioner Emily Lloyd said. Given
the popularity of this event, DEP will look
for additional opportunities to provide
driftwood to our neighbors in the months
and years ahead.
It was fun, Pazmandi said of the
driftwood giveaway. Next time I will bring
some hot tea though.
Pazmandis installation will be on
display at the Unison Sculpture Garden in
New Paltz from April 17 with an undecided end date. On April 17, 24, and May
1, and 8 there will be special performance,
ceremony and interactive viewing. Her
thesis exhibition can be viewed at the
Samuel Dorsky Museum at SUNY New
Paltz on May 15. For more information,
visit katalinpazmandi.com.

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BlueStone Press, February 20, 2015 , Page