The Poetry of Sculpture

Initiation, View No1, wood, leather cord, 22” x 16” x 13”, $1800

The piece called “Initiation” began with wonder and a pile of black walnut scraps. I glued them together on a curve, then faired the faces and edges smooth. That gave me an intriguing form I hadn’t imagined at the outset. It reminded me of a piece of body armor, protection for the left half of the chest.

Curious about the other half, I tried some rib-forms, in hard maple, as if the other side of the chest were exposed. I appreciated the result, and came up with a stand on which to mount the piece. As it was the first piece I fabricated with no preconceived outcome, I named it "Initiation."

In contemplating the work as it has moved through shows and galleries around the Northwest I could see that on another level the piece represents a more transcendent initiation.

Initiation, View No2

To know who we truly are we have to become vulnerable, exposing our inner world.

When we become aware of who we are there’s nothing to be afraid of.

The conclusion is a simple truth—what armor seeks to protect is the cage we’re in; vulnerability is the way out.

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