I’ve been working on this project almost a year.
In the winter I was driving and there was a field of pale gold where the tall grasses had died and only a hand full of contrasting trees with their dark bark and bare leaves.
I thought;
Oh what a wonderful spot for an art sculpture!
And that started me thinking how one day in the future there may only be symbolic art sculptures reminding us of what was once….ECHOES.
When I got home I immediately started on my idea.
I pulled several of my Wichita Mountains landscape photographs and not knowing yet exactly how to do it, I took objects with geometric shapes and created what I felt looked like an animal of the landscape. A bison, a bird, a turtle.
I will say using the geometric shapes and creating the sculptures is the most difficult part of the process.
Using different sizes, material types and various geometric shapes, I am able to create a sculpture that echoes an animals likeness.
I found that by using museum glue (paste and wax) to hold the shapes together and keep them in place, it really helps when photographing them.
In photoshop I place the animal|sculpture within the landscape.
I give this step a great deal of thought.
I want it to look like the sculpture is a natural part of the scenery
and yet acknowledge that it isn’t.
ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES
I ask myself,
Is the sculpture grazing? Resting? Drinking water? In motion?
I keep in mind the light of the landscape and I try to re-create a similar light and shadow on the sculpture.
My favorite part of the process is creating the story of the sculpture and thinking about where to place them within the landscape. I think about creating visual balance, harmony and using leading lines of the landscape to draw the viewer’s eye to the sculpture.
It’s my goal to try and create a surreal world and still give a feeling of reality.
ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES ECHOES
This is a project that I am connected with and will continue…