August 1986. Painted steel. Dimensions: 54 × 14 × 11 in (137 × 36 × 28 cm).
On the Cusp reflects my growing tendency during this period to look to the skies for inspiration. The long, sweeping crescent-like form suggests a celestial trajectory—an orbit, lunar arc, or body in motion—and relates to ideas I was exploring simultaneously in the Luna Series and in the solar and celestial concepts incorporated into several of my large-scale public works. The title reinforces this sense of transition: to be “on the cusp” is to occupy a threshold, poised between one state and another.
The work also marks a transition in my approach to color and expressive surface, stimulated in part by my increasing involvement with drawing, particularly color pastels. Its richly worked, almost impasto-like surfaces and layered color introduce a gestural, painterly quality that departs from the spare “truth to materials” aesthetic of my earlier tensegrity, or Brute Series. Rather than relying primarily on the inherent character of steel, I was beginning to use color, texture, and surface as active expressive elements, expanding the visual and emotional vocabulary of my sculpture.
August 1986. Painted steel. Dimensions: 54 × 14 × 11 in (137 × 36 × 28 cm).
On the Cusp reflects my growing tendency during this period to look to the skies for inspiration. The long, sweeping crescent-like form suggests a celestial trajectory—an orbit, lunar arc, or body in motion—and relates to ideas I was exploring simultaneously in the Luna Series and in the solar and celestial concepts incorporated into several of my large-scale public works. The title reinforces this sense of transition: to be “on the cusp” is to occupy a threshold, poised between one state and another.
The work also marks a transition in my approach to color and expressive surface, stimulated in part by my increasing involvement with drawing, particularly color pastels. Its richly worked, almost impasto-like surfaces and layered color introduce a gestural, painterly quality that departs from the spare “truth to materials” aesthetic of my earlier tensegrity, or Brute Series. Rather than relying primarily on the inherent character of steel, I was beginning to use color, texture, and surface as active expressive elements, expanding the visual and emotional vocabulary of my sculpture.
