SCULPTURE: Studies in Blue

This picture is the full size steel piece I was working on in 2002 , which stemmed from an earlier piece but with refined details evolving as I worked. This piece is about l02" tall, it stands on a very small footprint on a 16 inch concrete ring or a square marble block. The virtual three-dimensional maze invites the eye to explore the interior spaces, while walking around reveals eight surprisingly different view. Four are frontal and 'square' see-through views, but the angled approaches present a solid isogonic mass of compacted angles. The color is special in its three responses to light: Direct sunlight shows a light and bright blue, while in general atmospheric light it is many shades darker. The blue in the internal spaces is surprisingly dark and shadowy. The material is welded heavy 11 ga. steel, primed and painted with durable material and proper technique. Despite size and appearance, this piece is shipable in a space crate with no special problems in siting.

Here is the above piece now in Massachusetts, as viewed from the side in an open "see-through" angle. Here it is still standing on the rolling platform which I used to work on it. It follows the general tone of the above view, but I wanted to give it a more airy and spacious feel while keeping the general idea and size similar. Seen from a straight-on side angle, it has more spaciousness that its original, while overlapping the angled views nicely into a compact cluster of shapes. There seem to be three hues of the blue which different amounts of light elicit. In bright sunlight the blue is almost a sky-blue, in afternoon glow this blue get quite a bit darker but is still a distinct blue, while the hollows become almost a navy blue in tone as ambient light does down in the afternoon. I tried many colors but found this particular shade of blue to be unusual in showing such a wide range of color in varying light conditions.

In this view, as seen from an upper story window, it looks quite difference, not only because of the downward looking view, but also because we are looking at it at the 45 degree angle. One of the most interesting things about these pieces is the variability of the shapes as you change your point of viewing, and the down-view is considerably different from a straight frontal view as you stand near it. Much sculpture has a dominance frontal "face", which means you have to go around to the front to see what it is about.

I especially like the omni-angularity of these pieces which invite you to walk around them, seem them from far as well as near, and observe the difference in approach as well as the changes which different times of the day will provide. But this same piece when seen from this angle, is entirely different with its open and "see-through" airy feel. Walking around you see a continually changes set of relationships of the parts, in fact there is no front or back at all, only a successions of views which are determined by where you stand.

This is a new piece completed in the summer of 2003, about seven feet tall and an interesting variant from the above piece. It has the same open-structure as seen from right angles, with a complicated isogonic appearance developing as you move around the piece from the corner angles. There is a planned a-symmetry about this one, starting from the foot at the base and moving continually to the side, then again to the side above. Furthermore the three vertical tower sections compete with each other in height, again veering counterclockwise and away from the foot attachment at the base. The 12 inch cast conical base supporting the foot symmetrically emphasizes the centered bottom as compared with the eccentrically rising members, and there is a curious quizical quality about this piece. This picture is as it now stands here in my garden, and is especially intriuging when viewed from the corner angles. The picture is as it stands in my garden, and it is available