“Love 2020″
Steel 18″ x 18″ x 84″
Two steel abstract forms, separate yet connected, within a city ravaged by a virus.
… aged loved ones alone … hesitant to touch …
… the absence of a kiss or embrace …
My effort to express what is beautiful within the tragic.
Imagine life as a basket filled with hundreds of balls. The basket is tipped. Someone may have pushed it over. An unexpected event may have caused the spill. Whatever the reason, the balls are scattered.
Many may think of the moment as unfortunate; others, a tragedy. Some will start to clean up the mess or put things back in the basket. A few may notice that there is a golden ball or two among the scattered. They see possibilities.
I’m willing to bet that visitors to this website are grateful for having their basket tipped over. This sculpture is about change, creativity, and life, yours and mine.
Life, An Odyssey
16″ x 24″ x 8″
Styrofoam, twigs, paper bag, foil
NFS
“Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix”
(My heart is open to your voice)
Weathered steel, clef is powder coated
76” x 30”. x 30”
Around the base of this piece the words and sentiments of the composer John Rutter are inscribed:
“If you could have any gift, any treasure,
taste any pleasure, what would it be?
May your soul have the gift of music.
May your heart be inspired with song.
May the echoes remain in your memory…
like a friendship that lasts your whole life long.”
Steel, 66″h x 41″w x 24″d,
My client wanted a sculpture that was personal to her, not one that was merely attractive to others or pleasant to the eye. She wanted an piece that reflected her many faceted life. It was also to be an outdoor sculpture that could be seen from her bedroom and living room. While in her seventies, she felt that her life–far from over–was still unfolding. She wanted the sculpture to reflect that experience of being unfinished and far from perfect. Looking back over her life she recognized that her varied life-experiences, while seeming separate, were all of a piece. She wanted the sculpture to reflect that experience as well. “I feel that I have learned wisdom over the years. No, the Hebrew word חוכמה captures my experience. While I’m not particularly religious I want that word incorporated into the piece. I’m not sure why. I will call the sculpture חוכמה or Sophia.”
For those who want to slow, suggestions abound. “Do this, do that.” we hear.
Chief Yellow Hawk of the Lakota Tribe had a suggestion. Listen to the sound of the wind.
In medieval times a village bell would sound at noon. Villagers dropped what they were doing. They called the devotion The “Angelus” … a reminder of an angel’s coming to announce the sacred.
This large wind chime is a sculpture that marries those traditions. It is an invitation to pause.
Angelus II
80″h x 48″w x 12″d
Steel
Villa Saint Therese Clinic
Steel
Rust patina, sprayed auto paint
66″ x 24″ x 12″
The Villa is a remarkable clinic that serves uninsured and underinsured children … from birth to eighteen years of age. They also offer limited services to adults. 95% of patients fall below the Federal Poverty Line, are uninsured, and come from immigrant families. Over 60% receive no government assistance. Services are free or very low cost for individuals having no or little insurance.
I took the logo from their stationary to sculpt this playful outdoor sculpture to help create a welcoming atmosphere for the children and their caregivers.
“The Hermit Playing the Violin” Max Regar
Steel, weathered patina, powder-coated note
84″ x 30″ x 2″
Straight, lesbian, gay, confused, bi, trans, queer. Differences? Surely. Of consequence? Less than imagined.
A host of contemporary artists using various mediums are intent to make sculptures that reflect something fundamental –even hidden– about life as we know it. Their method is to declutter. Some tag the effort minimalism. The effort accents black and white, use other colors sparingly, and transform the simplest of forms to create incredibly stunning art. The movement has influenced contemporary couture, painting, design, sculpture, poetry and even architecture. Think of the popularity of high-end “soft contemporary” homes with their white walls, high ceilings, extended glass, and striking furniture.
I have tried to reflect this tradition to find beauty in simplicity by combining the fundamental elements of point, line, and volume to form two similar yet subtly different forms. I like it. My hope is that the piece find its way into a contemporary home or office.
Uniform white squares are meticulously arranged as a path around a blackened cube of steel. On each side a red square appears misplaced…perhaps alone. In the words of Michelle Obama, it is a challenge to square “who you are with where you come from and where you want to go.” B
Embedded within his extraordinarily intricate and complex masterpiece Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copeland sensitively inserted the melody of the Shaker hymn, Tis the Gift to be Simple. The effect is striking.
Here, five rusted steel box-like contemporary structures form a nest from which rise notes that ascend as if unencumbered to the heavens. For me, a reminder to remain focused both in work and life.
“Tis the Gift to be Simple”
