elephant

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on August 21, 2023 at 9:07pm

Curator's Comments:

 

Elephant makes beautiful use of a patina-rich metal surface.  The subtle pigment variations in the orange-brown rust provide a soft earthen ground for the animal’s balancing act.  The turquoise oil can is an unexpected pop of color, and is interestingly painted in a flat, graphic manner, balancing the gray modulations in the animal and boat. When a work randomly comes back on the site that was created many years ago, I like to look back through the other pieces for context. Seeing your three-dimensional version of this work again in Standby made me appreciate Elephant even more, for it is the artist themselves in this case performing the balancing act for the viewer, vacillating between physical weight of cast bronze and fabricated steel, and the illusionistic weight within a pictorial plane.  While viewing the sculpture makes me feel the weight of the roughly textured elephant balanced on thin, smooth instruments, I also take pleasure in the suspension of the three disparate elements floating effortlessly on a sheet of steel. I’m also grateful to read the inspiration you provided for the elephants in your studio practice.  The strain their precarious positions create is transmitted to the viewer in a palpable tension.  Thank you for sharing this poignant and masterfully crafted work.