Ruminations consists of a loosely grouped collection of figurative sculptures and bas-reliefs which focus on specific meditations involving beginnings, perseverance, aging, trauma and loss. The Witnesses series is a specific contemplation of cataclysmic events such as 9/11.

The Beginning, as it’s name implies, is a reflection on the evolution of single celled organisms which led to the complex neural framework many animals currently have. This bas-relief also began a deeper exploration into the internal landscapes of our minds in related bodies of work such as Dendrites, Vital Memories and public artworks like Our Memories.

“It’s Hard is a flesh-toned sculpture of a horse with human proportions and characteristics that is self-consciously standing on its hind legs in what is, in fact, an impossible pose. Modrak explains: “The title expresses feelings of determination depicted by the physically difficult pose taken by the horse and the tension in trying to maintain it.”” Kurt Shaw, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Noise is about the idea of self-inflicted static or noise—the proverbial “rat brain” in the middle of the night. Curious is open and frank—she’s inquisitive about her environment and without question a distant cousin to some of the figures in the Witnesses series. Veins are an important link between this earlier figurative work and the Standing figures which followed.

Two series which dive forcefully into our human coping mechanisms and generate self-reflection are Witnesses and Standing. Witnesses, a series of 6 figurative sculptures and 7 panels, was conceived as a reflection on 9/11 and inspired by other historical cataclysmic events, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. The series explores the notion of witnessing acts of violence or trauma and examines the nature of sensations caught in a moment of time, such as longing, hope, or pain. The three-dimensional sculptures represent witnesses to the original unnerving event and now become part of the spectator’s experience as they are viewed in the context of the larger piece. Witness III is agitated, Witness I is frozen in a moment of time and exudes a palpable angst and fragility.

Related press: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Foster Medical, Art the Science, ASCI, SciArt Magazine.

Exhibitions include (select sculptures): The Hartnett Gallery Imprints, Aqua Art Miami, DUMBO Art Fair, Point Park University, Midday Gallery.