Ingrid Gipson was born in Germany. She chose to study Fashion Design and Marketing in Wiesbaden, Germany. She built for herself an impressive career in the field of fashion from designing to heading up companies. Her work took her to markets of Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and to several Countries in Europe. Before retiring full time she consulted with manufacturers in all fields of the industry from financing to design and production through marketing/merchandising & sales strategies. She was much sought after to lecture to Fashion Design senior level students at University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech and others.
After retiring to the South Eastern Oklahoma Ouachita Mountains she took the opportunity to return to her love of Art and studies of: Jungian Psychology, Anthropology, Mythology and Comparative Religion, in short how we, collectively, experience life.“To translate these themes in to sculpture is what inspires me.”
Ingrid Gipson selects the motif for each work very carefully and edits rigorously where it has collective meaning and thus addresses the deepest most ancient parts within us all. She insists that all her work be original and created without any molds whatsoever. Some of her motifs are the dream images of Jungian Psychology mixed with the mythological and religious symbolism of art and tales told since prehistory. She finds endlessly fascinating how the themes repeat themselves in different guises throughout the ages and vastly varying cultures.
Being created from clay the sculptures are subjected to incredible stresses in firings, and have resulted in total destruction more often than one might imagine. There is a reason that one will seldom find large sculptures in clay. Small fissures or detachments are repaired and thus become evidence of its passage in the process of becoming.
Ingrid’s story was recently brought to film with the documentary “Ingrid.” Featured in film festivals around the country, her story has fascinated viewers and is now available on DVD and Blu Ray here. Watch the video below for a short teaser of the film.
Hammer To Nail – “A lyrical, poetic ode to its subject, 74-year-old artist Ingrid Gipson, Ingrid transcends mere portraiture and involves the viewer in an act of cinematic intimacy that is as metaphysically profound as it is visually beautiful.”
Independent Magazine – “The film gently unravels Gipson’s life in exquisite detail through stunning cinematography and carefully composed shots which showcase the elements of artistic and rural work that make up Gipson’s world”