Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Aspires


"Aspires"
When I first pondered the idea for this piece, I thought about the great pyramids of Egypt.  I thought about how even today, they inspire us to think about the considerable human potential contained within all of us, just by being alive. I thought about the greatness of the human spirit, the immense collective human knowledge we possess, and I thought about the unending human will we exhibit.


This all began with 3 pieces of 4x4 scrap lumber left over from a construction project in the building where my studio is located.  My wood turner friend Kalia Kilban, was kind enough to 'shape' them into pyramids for me. (Kalia exhibits and sells her exquisite bowls at the Sebastopol Gallery, the same gallery where I show my work)

Below is the only image I have of the pyramids in their 'raw' state before I started working on them.


After several iterations I decided that minimal embellishments was the way to go.

A vintage 1926 dictionary provided the perfectly 'aged' text and images, each applied separately and in layers.

The embellishments, include a WW2 Waltham US Army Corps of Engineers military compass, a  brass door plate, a brass tea strainer, among a few other things - all vintage!

Each pyramid sits on it's own stand: wood, brass and iron.  All 3 pieces sit on a wooden frame, made from what was formally a base that held candles, fitted with vintage yard sticks.


Please let me know what you think - I would love to get your feed back on this piece!
"The potential for greatness lives within each of us."

10 comments:

  1. comme l'obélisque, place étoile à paris... j'aime beaucoup celui avec les oiseaux! biz

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    1. merci Elfi. j'aime celui avec les oiseaux aussi.

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  2. With all that lovely aged background paper, you turned these into something far bigger and better than minimal. Very impressive.

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    1. thanks E. I mean, minimal for me . . . cause i like lots a bling. . . .

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  3. What an amazing imagination you have. Love all the bits and pieces you used and the yardstick stand too!! Thanks for sharing your creativity at VIP.

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    1. Betsy, this was a great piece to work on. and I already have a couple more . . . thankfully the dictionary i bought is / was about 3" thick . . . so lots of images and text.
      thanks for stopping by.

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  4. These pieces have a lot of power. So interesting to see/hear a bit of the story behind these.

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