SCULPTOR CREATES MOVEABLE PIECES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Patrons of Cynthia Minet's sculptures don't just look at her works - they play with them.

Minet, an art instructor at Antelope Valley College, creates art the viewer can touch and manipulate.

``River Through the City,'' for instance, becomes a set of wind chimes as the twisted metal and chains are manipulated. And ``The Senses,'' included in an exhibit for the visually impaired at the Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery, included an eye with a movable eyelid and a mouth with a moving jaw.

``People seemed to like the fact you can move it and touch it,'' Minet said. ``You can participate in changing it. Through the sensation of touch so much is communicated.''

Minet, 35, now has a new forum for her work - the Hang 'N Java on Lancaster Boulevard. She helped turn the coffeehouse into a movie set for the filming of ``Slam,'' an independent feature by colleague Mike Traina.

``I came up with the colors and the ideas. I drew out each scene and hung all the fabric,'' said Minet, who is art director for the movie.

Featured prominently in the movie will be two of Minet's sculptures - life-size human figures dubbed Jean Luc and Sabrina. The figures - her final project for her master's degree in 1987 - previously were displayed at Antelope Valley College and at a private high school in Marin County.

Jean Luc and Sabrina have been in so many of the movie scenes the producers jokingly said they should be listed in the credits, Minet said.

Minet's latest project is the creation of two 3-foot-tall figures - a Barbie doll and a G.I. Joe. The figures, inspired by a poem used in ``Slam,'' will have movable joints so they can be posed.

``They will interact with each other, depending on the viewer. It should be fun. It's the real Barbie and the real G.I. Joe - in bronze,'' said Minet of Lake Hughes.

Minet's interest in art began while she was growing up in Rome.

``Being surrounded by ancient art and the renaissance inspired me,'' Minet said. ``I've wanted to be a sculptor since I was young.''

Minet figures she inherited an interest in mechanics and movement from her father, a chemical engineer.

``What keeps me working with the human figure is the way that it moves,'' Minet said. ``It's fascinating. It's so beautiful. I'll be working with it for some time.''

The family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13, and Minet began studying painting and sculpture two years later. She earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master's degree in fine arts and sculpture from San Francisco State University.

Minet taught art in Rome for six years before coming seven years ago to Antelope Valley College, where her mother had taught child development courses.

Initially, Minet started out making sculptures from found objects. Lately, she has been working more with fragments of materials. For example, as she cuts out a piece of sheet metal Minet may see something interesting in the fragments that have fallen to the floor.

``I take something and see the possibilities,'' Minet said. ``I let the materials speak to me.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--Ran in AV only--color) Minet's ``Hope'' is displayed at Hang 'N Java.

(2--Ran in AV only) Cynthia Minet, an art instructor at Antelope Valley College, sits in front of ``The Box.''

(3--Ran in SAC only) Sculptor Cynthia Minet hangs out with her work, ``The Scenes'' at the Hang 'N Java coffeehouse.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News