Sculptor Solia Hermes’ first one-person exhibit is a rite of passage, a marker for artistic maturity.

For Hermes – as for other young artists – preparation for the solo show has meant months of emotionally and physically taxing effort to produce a coherent body of work.

“It takes a lot to put together a one-person show,” Hermes said. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since I got my contract in March.

“I had to figure out a theme – I wanted an overall look, not just to fill the space with objects.”

Hermes had already won recognition for her art last spring, when she received an Amy Award for local artists, and has done commissioned works for libraries and other public buildings.

The one-person show presented new challenges.

Known as a sculptor who makes unique furniture pieces, Hermes decided to create a total environment.

“Instead of having pieces and finding space for them in the gallery, I wanted a unified look,” she said. “I wanted to pull the viewer in, make them part of the work.”

Hermes opted to make everything from cabinets to the rugs on the floor.

She spent time in the gallery space, sketched the layout, and rearranged components, working the three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle until all the pieces fit. To realize her vision, she knew she would have to use every material and technique she had learned.

Although Hermes is largely self-taught, she had the advantage of growing up with parents who are active artists, sculptor Michelle Van Slyke and graphic designer Kent Van Slyke.

In her parents’ space, Hermes had access to equipment and machinery she might not be able to afford on her own, including a metal shop and a laser that makes fine cuts in steel.

The laser enabling her to cut the delicate negative shapes of the leaf pattern in “Star Girl” and the circles from “Moon Boy.” – the two larger-than-lifesize figures that face each other to form an arch welcoming gallery-goers into her show.

The two figures are cut from quarter-inch steel plate, with the surface ground for texture.

The grace of the pieces give little clue to the hard work it took Hermes to shape the steel plate.

Off-kilter craft

Hermes called on another set of skills to build her off-kilter cabinets of wood and metal.

Textured with stucco over wood, and painted in acrylic, the pieces stand on stilt-like wood legs cut and sanded.

To line the interior of one cabinet with copper leaf and the other with silver leaf, Hermes used a time-honored technique.

The small metal leaf squares are so fragile that they disintegrate at a single touch, so Hermes laid them in place by rubbing a small paint brush in her hair to build up static electricity, and then using the attraction of the charge on the brush to float the silver and copper into place.

One cabinet piece will be studded with bent copper wire and the other with silver triangles.

“I like to be able to have a little fantasy in my work,” Hermes said, “but these are real, functional cabinets.”

Hermes has used the occasion of her exhibit to develop her art in new directions, as well.

She has fabricated metal wall reliefs. The 2-by-2 steel “drawings” have images cut and then pulled away from the frame.

The reliefs might not have developed so fast or so completely without the pressure of the show, admits the artist.

“It’s been very challenging to think of filling that space,” Hermes said, “and it’s been a lot of work.

“But it was just all up to me – I could do whatever I wanted. I could explore some new concepts. And it’s great as a young artist to have that freedom.

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The Solia Hermes solo exhibit opens Sept. 6 at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. Information: 842-3132.