No Horizon/ No Walls

A series of 16 reliefs in glass, neon, paper, and aluminum

On their own, reliefs are essentially two dimensional, merely suggesting volume. Yet, floating on a wall, they create the third dimension, erasing the flat plane and transforming it into a deep space. There are no walls.

With no orientation to the earth, there is no horizon.

Weightless

1984

Maple

Without conscious destination, untouched by external forces, the woman exists just as she is.

Is she falling? Floating? Rising on some faint thermal updraft?

This piece, laminated and carved by hand, is the first in the No Horizon series. Carving is a subtractive process; material is removed to reveal the form inside.

Just Beginning

2001

Sandcast Aluminum

Looking into her future, the woman launches herself, undaunted.

The first casting in the series, this piece is additive— an original is built up from epoxy paste. Completed after a hiatus involving a decade of design work in aluminum,

Portal /

Just Passing Through

2007

Cast Glass, Stainless Steel

Still not touching down, each choice defines or confines her. Some doors are open, some are shut. There is no going back.

Having left the subtractive process behind, the epoxy originals allow the work to be cast in many different media. This one is cast by the artist in glass.

Neutral Buoyancy

2015

Sandcast Aluminum

Like a bubble in a frothy wave, she is caught in a moment of stillness and equilibrium, neither rising or sinking. Her swirling hair suggests the eddying flow of the surrounding water.

The first exploration of figures as polygons, this strong triangle also celebrates the soft curves of flesh.

Sweet Bird You Are

2017

Sandcast Aluminum

Another powerful triangle, she glides upwards on outstretched arms.

With her highly polished aluminum surface, her skin dissolves into a reflective, mercurial liquid.

Solving Zeno’s Paradox

2018

Cast glass, Saffron Neon

Zeno’s Paradox posits that a journey towards a goal, if imagined as a series of distances each one half of the previous distance, can never be completed, since every remaining distance can still be cut in half yet again. Obviously, she can solve this paradox with a single leap. 

This is the artist’s first venture in adding light to the figure. The neon tubes within the cast glass create a dramatic glow.

Triangle #2

2019

Acrylic, Red Neon, Blue Neon, LED

Reducing the body to silhouette and line, the polygon is revealed. 

 

A variation on the theme. Cut from black acrylic sheet, pierced by tubes and wires, the artist leaves the constraints of anatomy, and plays with color and light.

Leaping Forward/ Looking Back

2019

Sandcast Aluminum

Leaving behind the expectations of others, she leaps boldly forward; still she looks back from whence she came. looking at the past to create the future.

Aluminum is a soft, gleaming metal, a satin silver skin that defines her muscular body.

Hexagon #1

2019

Cast Paper

Arcing arms, interwoven legs, her body is balanced— taut, yet flexible. Like a wheel, she implies motion, but is still at rest.

Cast in paper, a medium so different from the hardness of glass or aluminum. the figure becomes a part of the plane, her twisting form is described by shadows. 

Trapezoid #2

Stripped of her flesh, she has become a deep shadow, a hole in the aura that surrounds her. The calligraphy of the neon is all that is left to suggest her flight.

Sculpting in light imparts an electric energy to the forms; the intense colors add a sense of the surreal. 

2020

Acrylic, Green Neon,

Purple Neon, LED

Finding Center

2021

Sandcast Aluminum

A dancer, a goddess, a yogi, a peaceful, hexagonal meditation spiraling around a central point.

Sandcasting is such a basic process. Hot aluminum is poured into a mold made of packed sand— when the metal cools, the sand is broken away, ready to be used again.

Hexagon #3

2021

Acrylic, Green Neon, Purple Neon, LED

Layer over layer of legs, hands cradling knees, head bowed, the shapes are pulled into focus by the wild punctuation of her hair.

The neon lines are clean and powerful, but behind the scenes the hidden wires and transformers create the magic.

Singing

the Tree of Life

2021

Sandcast Aluminum,

Plasma Tube

Bursting upward, she sings out a green flame. She is a shining vessel.

This is the first piece to Include a plasma tube, adding sizzle as her highly reflective surface shimmers in the sinuous flickering of the tube.

Finding Her Voice

2022

 Sandcast Aluminum,

 Plasma Tube

Galvanized by inspiration, she calls out in a new voice. A lightning bolt shooting up into the sky.

The combination of cast aluminum and plasma tubes resonates with the artist’s investigation of the imagery of the female. 

Light-hearted

2022

Sandcast Aluminum

Dancing on the beach, free from worry and unafraid.

This piece was started in April of 2020— when the world changed— the news was frightening and the future uncertain. The artist craved something light-hearted in the shop. 

Rising Up

2023

 Sandcast Aluminum,

Plasma Tubes

Tossed up in a swirl of electric energy,

we witness her joyful ascent.

So many renderings of the female body are painted with the preconceptions of the viewer, drenched with sexuality, or body image concerns, or cultural expectations. These naked women are about naked emotions, self-definition, and interior landscapes.