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Contemporary Sculptor-Modern Abstract Painted Steel Sculpture > click image to enlarge
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"Leaf Series" 2002-03
After working with Volumes in my Modern Sculpture for eight years with my "Black Series" and "White Series" I was ready to move in a New Direction with my Contemporary Abstract Sculpture. Metal Sculpture is a great medium for pushing dimensions and obtaining thin angles and planes due to its strength. Metal Sculpture allows for thin long elements that are fairly durable. I tried pushing these Contemporary Abstract Sculpture to the maximum the steel would allow using .50 and.75 inch diameter steel doweling for the stem like components in these "Leaf Sculptures". The Stem like structures conceptually are actually radius lines and the Leaf Shapes were arcs distilled in my Formal Vocabulary established in the early 1970's with my Wood Floor Pieces. The materials structural limits were pushed as far as possible while maintaining the strength engineered into each Outdoor Monumental Sculpture in this "Leaf Series". At this time in my carrier I let go of my stringent Modernist Dialog using Natural Materials or Black and White to to define my Abstract Modern Sculptures. I had been very Abstract using my Vocabulary in a dialog of Volumes in primarily a a very Formal Geometric Format.
Color had not entered my work till this point during in my Contemporary Sculpture. I wanted to let to have fun yet still designing handsome compositions with my Core Concept of Circles in Space. While working on this Series of Outdoor Sculptures I did a Series of Paintings using the same paints and Leaf like Forms exclusively on Plexiglass which I chose for its flat and durable surface. The Arcs which seem to read as leafs were carried through in both the sculpture and paintings. Working in Color for the first time as a Modern Artist was rebellious and fun from the the Stark elegant Modern Sculpture I had produced in the past. As much as these Painted Steel Sculptures looked like Leafs they actually were based on my evolving theme of "The Place in Space that Circles have in Common". The Sculpture were defined formally to the viewer as Leaf like structures with Juts of Position including Arcs transcribed in Opposing Planes reading as Leaf Like Form and the Radius Lines created from steel dowling appeared to read as Stem like Structures. As much as this Series had the appearance of Leafs like compositions, they remained true to my core concepts and vocabulary.
This Series was a Success from the The first Exhibition at Newspace Gallery in 2003. It was easy for people to relate to the bright Metallic and Primary Colors in playful natural looking compositions. The Leaf like presence of these Monumental Sculptures made them easy to read not only the Experienced Modern Art Enthusiast but the Novice Art Viewer as well. They were able to relate to these seemingly Leaf like Configurations, while they actually were viewing cloaked compositions in a Abstract Dialog of Circles and Radii in Space. Sometimes Nature is easily assimilated into Abstract Modern Sculpture even though from Modern Artists point of view he is dealing with a different underlying intent. |