Terry Maker’s work has a way of drawing you in — her Foretelling (Crystal Ball) especially. To me, it felt like gazing upon a full moon split in two, the quiet mystery of life gently unveiled inside.
This is exactly the kind of profound encounter waiting for visitors when “Dust Divine” opens at 5&J Gallery in Lubbock. The exhibition marks a homecoming of sorts for the 72-year-old sculptor, who was born and raised in nearby Abilene before building her career in Colorado, where she’s represented by Denver’s prestigious Robischon Gallery.
From West Texas Grit to Cosmic Art
The daughter of parents who built three motels from the ground up in 1950s Abilene — complete with neon signs announcing “telephone and air-conditioning in every room” and kidney-shaped pools — Maker learned early that making things requires getting your hands dirty.
“Like my hard-working parents, Corky and Red Maker, I too am drawn to hard work and actually enjoy the challenge of physical involvement,” Maker explains. “The muscle and sweat involved become a significant element in the works’ ultimate success.”
This West Texas work ethic permeates every piece in “Dust Divine,” part of her ongoing “Drawn from Dust” series that transforms what others might consider worthless into something transcendent.
The Art of Archaeological Excavation
“‘Dust Divine’ is really about finding the sacred in the discarded,” Maker says. “I’m drawn to materials that others might see as worthless — shredded documents, scraps of paper, everyday detritus — and through this labor-intensive process of compacting and curing, then excavating like an archaeologist, I’m seeking to reveal something divine that was always there, waiting to be discovered.”
Her process is as physically demanding as it is spiritually driven. She compacts materials, cures them, then literally excavates them like an archaeologist, revealing cuts, marks, and gashes that speak to redemption and resurrection. The resulting sculptures maintain what she calls “perfect imperfection” — forms that are broken, cut, and carved only to be resurrected and reformed.
Circles, Crystals, and Cosmic Connections
Many of Maker’s pieces feature inscribed circles, a form the artist of Christian faith uses to explore spirituality and the divine. Rather than perfect symbols, she deliberately breaks and fractures them to invite “the fallen and corrupted to participate.”
“The Crystal Ball sculptures in ‘Dust Divine’ serve as portals between inner and outer worlds,” Maker explains. “Their resin crystals are carefully embedded in surfaces made from compacted paper and drinking straws. Some incorporate shredded astrophysics documents, connecting earthbound materials to cosmic themes.”
The “Drawn from Dust” series extends this exploration through rubbings that transfer textures from three-dimensional works to Evolon, a fabric-like paper, creating what Maker calls “progeny” — each possessing distinct character while reflecting its source.
A Generation Finally Getting Recognition
At 72, Maker represents a generation of women artists gaining recognition after decades when their male contemporaries became household names. Her recent success at Robischon Gallery and this Texas exhibition reflect what she calls a particularly gratifying period of her life.
Her influences range from Outsider Art and Art Brut makers to transcendental painters like Hilma af Klint and Agnes Pelton, sculptors Lee Bontecou and Eva Hesse, and Los Angeles artist Tim Hawkinson, whose ability to find profound meaning in seemingly small and insignificant matters continues to inspire her work.
From Abstract Painting to Sculptural Transformation
Though Maker started as an abstract painter after earning her bachelor’s degree in Abilene and beginning graduate studies at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, her attraction to thick impasto and assemblage led her toward dimensional relief and sculpture. She completed her graduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where her early works featured deep, encrusted paint and alternative materials like plastic roof cement troweled onto canvas.
Maker describes her aesthetic as seeking work that is “honest and encourages questions and even mystery and wonder,” rather than “obvious and boring decoration or design.”
Exhibition Details
Opening Reception: First Friday, September 5, 6-9 PM
Exhibition Dates: August 19 – September 29, 2025
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM
Location: Charles Adams Studio Project –5&J Gallery, 602 Avenue J, Lubbock, Texas
More Info: terrymaker.com
This isn’t just another art opening — it’s a chance to witness how one artist transforms the discarded into the divine, finding cosmic meaning in earthbound materials, and proving that sometimes the most profound art comes from the most humble beginnings.
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