'Divine' spark drives humble artist's eyecatching work

"Excellence and integrity cloaked in humility."

That's the quote -- a prayer, actually -- engraved in Latin on the side of one of Tracy H. Sugg's sculptures. It also describes the sculptor herself.

"I believe the artist has a duty to uplift, and bring beauty into the lives of people," she said. "It's not all about 'ME.' As a Christian, I believe it's that spark of the divine."

In her case, it's a very big spark. The New Mexico native moved from her most recent home in Mississippi to Wartrace this year with her husband, Robert, and their four children, Phillip, 17, Colt, 14, Crimson Rose, 12, and Robert IV, 6.

Her artwork, however, is all over the place. Her full-sized statue of the late Sonny Jackson, a Mississippi congressman, adorns the campus at Mississippi State University in Starkville. A bust of Revolutionary War General Tadeusz Kosciuszko is on permanent display at the West Point Library.

"I'm not sure, but I think I'm the only woman sculptor represented there," she said.

NY exhibit

Next month, on Nov. 11, she will open an entire exhibit in New York at the Polish Consulate, a special commission of portrait busts that feature famous Poles throughout history, from Emilia Plater to Pope John Paul II -- but this month, she's opening an exhibit right here in Shelbyville, at The Fly Cultural Arts Center.

"After we moved here, Robert looked around to see what galleries were in the area," she said. "We wanted to introduce ourselves."

The exhibit will officially open Monday night after the Arts Council meeting and the public is invited to attend, said Janice Cole, Fly director. The potluck dinner begins at 6 p.m.., after which there will be a brief business meeting and short program. Then, the arts council, family, friends, and anyone who wants to can visit the museum and see Tracy's artwork.

Every statuette, every high-relief sculpture, every work has its own story. One shows a woman, her face hidden by her hair, her head and shoulders bowed in grief, being helped and consoled by another woman. It is called "Hope Supporting Sorrow."

"We had an a exhibit at a college and there were a lot of college boys there," she said. "I think they were there for the free food, you know? On the way out, my husband asked them what their favorite piece was. One of them pointed to that one. He was crying. He just turned and walked away."

Destined to be

Tracy knew at the age of 8 she was going to be a sculptor. Living on a ranch in New Mexico, she and her father would go trail riding around the state and on one trip, they explored a little artists' community that had its own lost-wax foundry. Watching the workers create the molds, pour in the metal, and reveal the statues was all it took to hook the young girl.

"I knew then that was what I wanted to do," she said.

It's taken years of study. Besides regular college work, she served an 8-year internship and got her MFA. She's traveled to France and Italy to study the different styles of the masters in their original settings, and she has, in a way, brought them all home with her. One sculpture may reflect the baroque style of Bernini, while another statuette is decidedly Art Deco. She has a growing interest in Classical, calling to mind the elegant statues of Greece and Rome.

One of the larger statues on display is of a little boy. Clad in overalls, he's wearing a big grin as he hauls a massive largemouth bass under his arm. While the overalls and the bass may be classic Southern farm boy, the pose and the influence are classic Greek.

Another aspect of that little boy -- and his largemouth bass -- also speaks volume about Tracy's "excellence and integrity."

"I used my father's trophy of a real bass as the model," she said.

Accuracy matters

Accuracy is extremely important to her -- and beneficial. When she was doing the large statue of Kosciuszko for Red Bud, Miss., she researched his life thoroughly, finding drawings both of him and by him, until she felt as though she really knew him. That made creating his likeness that much better -- and that much truer.

"All of the medals are accurate," Tracy said, pointing at the ones on the statue.

Behind his back, in his hand, the general is holding a drawing he made of Thomas Jefferson.

"He was an amateur artist," she said.

That careful research comes in handy. She and Robert home-school their children, and when one becomes interested in a project they are working on, their research allows them to explain it fully and with great enthusiasm.

So far, not one of the four has indicated an interest in following in their parents' art career footsteps, either creating sculpture with Tracy or raku pottery with Robert. In fact, their current career choices of lawyer, doctor and engineer, seem to mystify their mom.

"But we tell them, whatever you feel God is leading you to is right," she said. "We don't put any pressure on them."

The kids do help out, from setting up exhibits to lending a hand -- literally -- when Tracy needs a model to make sure that knuckle or that finger is just right.

Helpmate

Robert also helps out, to say the least.

"I couldn't do it without him," said Tracy. "I may be the figurehead, but he's the ship."

She said every sculpture that goes out has had both his and her hands on it, and the same goes for the pottery. Family is the most important thing for both of them.

"People ask me what my greatest work is, and I say these four," she said, referring to the children. "People told us, 'Kids? They'll just pull you down, You won't be able to do any art.' It's been quite to the contrary. Each one has brought more inspiration."

The children may or may not be at the opening Monday night, but there will be photographs of sculptures they inspired, if not the sculptures themselves. They will join the angels, the maidens, the representations of spring and hope, and the artists themselves, ready to meet and greet their new neighbors.