Client: Private Homeowner

Overview

Homeowner saw a figurative bronze of mine and asked for a garden sculpture that was much more abstract but retained the sense of motion. She also wanted a sculpture that morphed depending upon the time of day, the quality of light, and the viewpoint. The intimate setting — a small city garden — determined the scale of 8ft tall. The original bronze is shown in the last image.

Goals

I had previously designed the sculptural landscape for her yard (see https://www.codaworx.com/project/dining-pavilion-private-client-555a625aae037) which included the potential for a sculpture garden in the back. This sculpture is a significant addition to that sculpture garden -- designed to draw visitors into the back yard.

Process

The Irma series -- including this Corten steel sculpture as well as the bronze sculpture and 2 other versions -- is a true marriage of art and technology. . The Irma Series started with a hand-sculpted wax model of a dancer’s body just starting a turn. The wax model was then 3D scanned and converted to a digital “mesh” file. With the 3d digital file, I could then explore variations of form and scale much more quickly than with physical models. These variations could be shared with the client and with industry resources to explore ease and cost of fabrication as well as placement in the garden. A more traditional model could not have met the budget constraints of the project. The choice of material, technique, and form is fully integrated with the other installed landscape elements.

Additional Information

The sculpture captures and disperses light in surprising ways -- sometimes appearing luminous and sometimes almost disappearing into the landscape. The interaction with light helps animate the movement of the sculpture beyond its form.