Russell Bellamy
St. Prego, 2012
Stainless steel, 12' x 12' x 12'
This work deals with the intuitive mechanics and engineering associated with rural farm life. It reflects the farmer’s knowledge of mechanical and botanical sciences by combining elements of a single pivot irrigation system with the organic form of newly sprouted seedlings.
As consumers, most of us are unfamiliar with the farmer’s broad knowledge of agriculture and his ability to replace, repair, and combine machines in order to perform specific tasks. Here the artist expresses the intelligence, creativity, and problem-solving skills of those who provide us with our most basic needs. Fountainheads and irrigation systems allow agricultural societies to flourish, even in the most desolate climates.
www.russellbellamy.com
Doug Makemson
Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Farm No More, 2008
Scrap metal, 8' x 10' x 3'6"
Today, old steel plows and other farm equipment can be found strewn about the landscape, rusting and offering mute testimony to the forgotten labor of generations of horses and farmers. In the artist’s mind, the created horse is energized by the history of these artifacts and the knowledge that it has now “become” the plows, is free to run forever, and will never have to work on Maggie’s farm again. From a distance, one sees the form of a creature in the landscape. Upon getting closer, the parts become recognizable as more or less familiar objects from our industrial culture.
www.makesculpture.com
Allie Pohl
Ideal Woman: Caryatid (Fuchsia), 2012
Resin, chrome and PVC; 8' x 1'6" x 8"
The “Ideal Woman” is derived from the improbable proportions of the iconic Barbie doll. The artist is questioning the idealized female shape that has been marketed to girls and largely absorbed by society as a paragon of physical beauty. Five of these idealized torsos are stacked to form a vertical chain, which metaphorically binds or ties us to this popular idea of physical perfection. The chain-link repetition of the form also signifies the omnipresent influence of the societal ideal and alludes to the unattainable perfection of a uniform female shape. The fuchsia chrome transforms the work into an interactive sculpture by allowing viewers to see their own reflection distorted by the surface of the ideal figure.
www.alliepohl.com
Dale Rogers
Think and be Free, 2012
Stainless steel and CorTen steel, 9'7" x 5'10" x 3'7"
“Thoughts and ideas lead us to take action. Actions then provide freedom and choices.” Thus the artist explains the title “Think and be Free.”
This sculpture has a fabricated tubular steel framework that gives the effect of a line drawing in a three-dimensional piece. The result is a side profile “slice” view allowing us to symbolically see inside the head and view the workings of the mind. Gears provide a metaphor for the thought process. The large central gear is kinetic and rotates. The line of a furrowed brow references a pensive attitude. The textured finish of the head’s steel surface may suggest the many facets of individual thought and personality, including those of the viewer.
www.dalerogersstudio.com
Carolina Sardi
Three Double Nests, 2009
Steel and stone, 8'3" x 6' x 3'8"
Carolina Sardi works in abstraction using natural shapes and contrast between positive and negative spaces to achieve balance. Using minimal but essential forms, the artist uses an organic sensibility to convey a universal message about the basic interactions of life.
The steel plates of “Three Double Nests” have been pierced, leaving exposed holes through which we can see the space beyond and visualize the nothingness or a land of infinite possibilities. The void becomes the main visual element; the round and oval shapes that were part of the once full plates are gone, their absence creates a sense of sorrow for what is left behind. If we think of nests, we rest on the idea of the egg – a motif rendered here in seemingly endless variations of the ovoid shape.
www.carolinasardi.com
Chris Scala
Airborne, 2010
Painted steel tube and woven stainless steel wire fabric, 17' x 8' x 7'
“It is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.” So goes a favorite saying of pilots. Curious about the unseen forces of nature, Chris Scala expresses his interest in the power and behavior of air in motion as experienced by objects in flight.
Airborne reflects the random nature of the atmosphere, offering an impression of the invisible forces of the air surrounding us. As the earth heats up, warm air rises and lifts while cooler air falls and sinks. Gliding through air amidst changing air currents, one is confronted with instability. At the intersection of three poles, the eye is led upward where the partially transparent forms represent the quick chaos that is not seen or felt by earthbound observers.
www.chrisscala.com
Barbara Sorensen
Muse I, 2003
Bronze, 8' x 3' x 2'
Barbara Sorensen responds instinctively to the form, surface and texture of the Earth, echoing them in her work. She looks at the landscape, interprets and reinterprets it, processing it within, and gives it back, transformed. This work, one of a series of “Bronze Goddesses,” is for the artist about process and emergence. The piece is first formed in clay, and built up layer by layer around a steel rod for inner strength and centering. As the temperature rises in the kiln, the clay begins to move, bend, and dance as the figure turns to stone. There is a primal force occurring as the form emerges from the clay; the piece is growing from the earth both visually and metaphorically. The figure seems to have a classical stance, with its draped surface and slightly curving posture.
www.barbarasorensen.com
Bill Wood
Doorways and Roadways, 2010
Steel and aluminum, 6'8" x 4' x 7'
Behind some doors lie opportunity and adventure. Here we experience one such opening with a road to take us where the imagination can travel freely. How many times have we thought about passing through a mystical threshold and following a new road? How many times have we failed to set out on that path? This road is like a runway launching us up through the doorway and into the open air where we can realize a dream, be it a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or a Shangri-La.
www.billwoodsculptor.com