I Like Your Work: Conversations with Artists

Sculptor Lydia Musco on Finding Clarity in Your Studio Practice


Listen Later

Lydia Jenkins Musco's work has been exhibited in galleries and public spaces throughout the United States. With an MFA from Boston University and a BA from Bennington College, her artistic practice has been shaped by international experiences, including stone carving studies in Italy and participation in art symposia in Norway, South Korea, and China. Musco's work has earned recognition through awards including two Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants, a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, and an Edward F. Albee Residency Fellowship, among others. Her work has been featured in exhibitions including the 43rd Annual Peace Exhibition in Nagasaki, Japan, the International Print Center in New York, and numerous outdoor sculpture exhibitions nationwide. Musco has contributed to the art community through academic roles, serving as a lecturer in sculpture at Boston University and a visiting assistant professor at Davidson College. Musco lives and works in Royalston, Massachusetts.

"I interpret the world into a vocabulary of objects with weight and mass that can be viewed from all sides, that help me explore the connections and intersections of elements. Basic construction materials like concrete and wood — ubiquitous and often used in humble ways we take for granted — offer me a path to honesty through their fundamental simplicity. Two groups of work are currently in progress, Logarithmus and Unconformity. The Unconformity series began as an investigation into perception and place, a reflection of the landscape of the woodlands of Massachusetts. In geology, an unconformity refers to a break in time, a boundary between rocks caused by erosion or a pause in sediment accumulation. Investigating the environmental changes accumulating in the landscape over the course of a year, each sculpture is an unconformity, a break in time, capturing a moment, holding it still, and documenting the changing color, light, and forms of a single place. The Logarithmus series explores navigation, inspired by the Chip Log, an early nautical instrument for gauging speed. The form of these sculptures is derived from the geometry of a circle's quadrant. The resulting shape, somewhat vulnerable due to its accessible interior, becomes an exploration of pathfinding, with all its inherent hope and uncertainties. With the guarantee of detours and missteps, my goal is to keep moving forward with curiosity. These objects are built from the ground up, echoing the process of memory or landscape formation. Like geological strata, each layer both influences and is influenced by those adjacent to it, above and below, side by side. Bound by gravity only, they are built in movable sections that can be dismantled and reconstructed. Each reassembly tells a new story, revealing how intention and environment reshape our understanding, making the familiar strange and the static dynamic."

LINKS:

lydiamusco.com @lydia_j_musco

I Like Your Work Links:

Thank you to our sponsor, Sunlight Tax.

Right now, listeners of I Like Your Work can get this free artists' tax deduction guide by going to sunlighttax.com/ilikeyourworkguide Thank you to our Sponsor, the 2026 Canopy Program:

Apply by January 14th at thecanopyprogram.com

Pre-order our catalog: https://www.ilikeyourworkpodcast.com/resources

Have a question you want Erika to discuss in a mini episode? Email it to [email protected] with the subject "mini eps" Apply to the Chautauqua School of Art Residency Program: art.chq.org Join Erika in Italy at Umbria Contemporary Arts this Summer: https://www.umbriacontemporaryarts.com/product-page/the-symbolic-landscape-instructor

Join the Works Membership! https://theworksmembership.com/

Watch our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ilikeyourworkpodcast

Submit Your Work

Check out our Catalogs!

Exhibitions

Studio Visit Artist Interviews

I Like Your Work Podcast

Say "hi" on Instagram

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

I Like Your Work: Conversations with ArtistsBy Erika b Hess

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

223 ratings


More shows like I Like Your Work: Conversations with Artists

View all
Savvy Painter Podcast with Antrese Wood by Antrese Wood

Savvy Painter Podcast with Antrese Wood

893 Listeners

Creative Pep Talk by Andy J. Pizza

Creative Pep Talk

2,012 Listeners

The Art Biz by Alyson Stanfield

The Art Biz

187 Listeners

The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper

The Week in Art

215 Listeners

The Create! Podcast by Ekaterina Popova

The Create! Podcast

258 Listeners

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast by David Zwirner

Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast

448 Listeners

Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament

Talk Art

492 Listeners

Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers by Louise Fletcher/Alice Sheridan

Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

711 Listeners

The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

The Great Women Artists

526 Listeners

Learn to Paint Podcast by Learn to Paint Podcast

Learn to Paint Podcast

305 Listeners

The Art Angle by Artnet News

The Art Angle

365 Listeners

A brush with... by The Art Newspaper

A brush with...

141 Listeners

Windowsill Chats by Margo Tantau

Windowsill Chats

351 Listeners

Honest Art Podcast with Jodie King by Jodie King

Honest Art Podcast with Jodie King

115 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

11,478 Listeners