Figurative Mandalas
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Repetition and pattern in sculpture have always been intriguing to me. I created my first curled figure for the sculpture "Crysallis." I had a number of wax casts of the original sculpture sitting on my desk and I started playing with them. I was mesmerized by the way they coalesced into these amazing geometric patterns and the Q series was born. It began with Quaquaversal (7 figures), Quincunx (4 figures) and Qetesh (3 figures). The names of these first pieces naturally developed beginning with the most unusual letter Q, so I continued the titles in that direction.
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Repetition and pattern in sculpture have always been intriguing to me. I created my first curled figure for the sculpture "Crysallis." I had a number of wax casts of the original sculpture sitting on my desk and I started playing with them. I was mesmerized by the way they coalesced into these amazing geometric patterns and the Q series was born. It began with Quaquaversal (7 figures), Quincunx (4 figures) and Qetesh (3 figures). The names of these first pieces naturally developed beginning with the most unusual letter Q, so I continued the titles in that direction.
Evenstar
Bronze with steel, 18"x 18"x 3" (with base 22.5" H), Edition of 5
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Evenstar, 18"x 18" x 3" (22.25"x 18"x 10" including stand), bronze with steel, edition no. 1/5, currently available through the Albuquerque Museum
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"Evenstar"is a very old term for the evening star or Star of Venus, the first and brightest "star" to be visible at dusk. The Star of Venus, also called the Star of Inanna, has traditionally been represented as an 8-pointed star.
Quaquaversal
Bronze with steel, 14”x 14”x 3” (with base 20"H), Edition of 10
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Quaquaversal, bronze with steel, 14”x 14”x 3” (With base 20"H)
Edition number 1/10
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Quaquaversal was inspired by the title of my Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition at Northern Michigan University. It means moving outwards in all directions from a common center.
Elven Star
Bronze with steel, 14"x 14"x 3", (with base 20" H), Edition of 7
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Elven Star, Bronze with steel, 14"x 14"x 3" (with base 20" H)
Edition number 1/7, Private collection: Las Vegas, NV
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The seven pointed star, or septagram, has a long and varied history. Within the Kabbalistic tradition, it can represent the sphere of Venus and the power of love. This resonance with the days of the week carries through into its use as a planetary symbol, as each point not only represents one of the traditional "seven wandering stars," but also the corresponding days of the week. Sometimes called the Elven Star, it can also represent the seven directions - North, South, East, West, Above, Below and Within.
Quintessence
Bronze with steel, 12”x 12”x 4" (with base 18" H) Edition of 11
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Quintessence
Bronze with steel, 12”x 12”x 4" (with base 18" tall) Edition number 1/11
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The arrangement of the legs and feet on the back side of this sculpture form a hexagram. The six pointed star has symbolically represented various ideas throughout history, from the Heart Chakra to the Star of David. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of the merging of the downward facing triangle representing the male aspect and the upward facing triangle representing the female. The six pointed star was also used in alchemy to represent the fifth element, Quintessence, a medium similar or identical to that thought to make up the heavenly bodies.
Quinque
Bronze with steel, 11”x 11”x 3” (with base 17"H) Edition of 12
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Quinque: Bronze with steel, 11”x 11”x 3” (with base 17"H) Edition number 1 of 12
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Quinque means five or having five parts. When I was an undergraduate, I was captivated by both art and physics. One of my physics professors was mad about fractal geometry and I also came to love the beautiful repeating patterns.
The front side of this arrangement with its multiple layers of five pointed stars set within each other roughly reminded me of those early days of fascination with fractals and repetitive patterns.
Penta
Bronze with steel, 11"x 11"x 3" (with base 17" H), Edition of 7
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Penta
Edition number 1/7, Private Collection, Arlington, VA
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Penta- is Greek for "having five." I love that the same figures create very different geometry when put together with the heads facing in or out, as seen here with "Quinque" which forms a five-pointed star or pentagram and "Penta" which forms a classic five-sided geometric form, a pentagon.
Quincunx
Bronze with steel, 11”x 11”x 3” (with base 17" H) Edition of 13
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Quincunx
Bronze with steel, 11”x 11”x 3” (with base 17" H) Edition number 1/13
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A quincunx is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. A scientist friend of mine was once so excited about an astronomical event involving a quincunx occurring that he could barely speak. After that conversation, I never forgot the term and was more than a little excited myself when the arrangement of four figures turned out to be a quincunx of sorts.
Qetesh
Bronze with steel, 10”x 9”x 3” (with base 16"H), Edition of 14
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Qetesh
Bronze with steel, 10”x 9”x 3” (with base 16"H), Edition number 1/14, Private collection: Santa Fe, NM USA
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Qetesh is a single goddess who is a combination of three goddesses. It was a common practice for ancient Canaanites and Egyptians to merge different deities through a process of syncretism, thereby turning them into one single entity. Qetesh is a combination of the great mother goddess, a fertility goddess and a goddess of sacred ecstasy. I love that the combined shape looks a bit like a heart as a representation of a mother goddess. The patina is a nod to the moon and nighttime as Qetesh was often represented with a crescent moon headdress.
Triskeles
Bronze with steel, 12.5"x 12.5"x 3.5" (with stand 20.5"x 12.5"x 8"), Edition of 5
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Triskeles, 12.5"x 12.5"x 3.5" (20.25"H x 12.5"x 8" including stand), bronze with steel, edition no. 1/5, currently available through the Albuquerque Museum
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Triskeles means "three legs." A triskelia or triskeles is a symbolic figure consisting of three legs, arms, branches or spirals radiating out from a common center. The triskelion represents movement and also has many symbolic meanings throughout various cultures around the world. Often seen in Celtic design,
when I visited Sicily, I was also fascinated by the image of a Gorgon with three bent human legs behind her head that was represented everywhere. It was a triskele symbol from the Sicilian flag, symbolizing the three promontories that form the shape of Sicily. This particular design is uniquely intriguing as it also forms a perfect equilateral triangle on the reverse side.
when I visited Sicily, I was also fascinated by the image of a Gorgon with three bent human legs behind her head that was represented everywhere. It was a triskele symbol from the Sicilian flag, symbolizing the three promontories that form the shape of Sicily. This particular design is uniquely intriguing as it also forms a perfect equilateral triangle on the reverse side.
Triskelion
Bronze with steel, 10"x 9"x 3" (16"H with base), Edition of 7
Bronze with steel, 10"x 9"x 3" (16"H with base), Edition of 7
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Triskelion, 10"x 9"x 3" (16"H with base), Bronze with steel, Edition number 1/7. Public Collection: De Vos Art Museum; Marquette, MI USA
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A triskelion is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral with rotational symmetry. Present in Neolithic artifacts, Celtic art and works from Greek antiquity, the triskelion is one of the human symbols that hearkens to the mystery and vastness of our collective human experience.
Qi,
Bronze with steel, 9”x 10” x3” (with base 17"H), Edition of 15
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
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Qi,
Bronze with steel, 9”x 10” x3” (with base 17"H), Edition number 1/15
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According to Classical Chinese Philosophy, Qi is the force that makes up and binds together all things in the universe. It is paradoxically, both everything and nothing, a single energy that moves through all life and all things.
Yin and yang is a concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each. In this philosophy, the physical world is one of Qi vibration, alternating between yin and yang energies, producing all physical things.
The interaction of the two figures reminded me of the classic yin yang symbol and the energy that can flow between people.
Yin and yang is a concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each. In this philosophy, the physical world is one of Qi vibration, alternating between yin and yang energies, producing all physical things.
The interaction of the two figures reminded me of the classic yin yang symbol and the energy that can flow between people.
Q
Bronze with steel, 5.5”x 7”x 3” (With base 16"H) Edition number 1/16
Custom patinas, landscape and public art options available
Q, Bronze with steel, 5.5”x 7”x 3” (With base 16"H) Edition number 1/16
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This series began with Quaquaversal (7 figures), Quincunx (4 figures) and Qetesh (3 figures). The names of these first pieces naturally developed beginning with the most unusual letter Q, so I continued the titles in that direction. I find the single figure somewhat reminiscent of the letter Q with her compact body and her right leg jutting out at an angle like the Q's tail.