March 1991. Granite, steel. Dimensions: 33 x 57 x 32 in (84 x145 x 81 cm).
Pique à Terre IV, the fourth work in the series, developed as a spin-off from my earlier Rounder and Go-Round Series, continuing their circular vocabulary and my ongoing interest in combining stone and metal. Here, two granite elements are linked by a sweeping steel arc, with the larger stone lifted and poised delicately on a single point. The arrangement turns weight, gravity, and balance into gesture, giving these dense, earthbound materials an unexpected sense of movement and levity.
The title comes from classical French ballet and refers to a pose in which one toe lightly touches the ground, the other foot remains firmly planted, and an arm makes a sweeping gesture. I began to think of myself as a kind of choreographer—arranging heavy stone and steel so that they seem almost to dance. In Pique à Terre IV, the circular steel form acts much like that sweeping arm, connecting and animating the stones while transforming their inherent heaviness into a moment of precarious balance and arrested motion.
March 1991. Granite, steel. Dimensions: 33 x 57 x 32 in (84 x145 x 81 cm).
Pique à Terre IV, the fourth work in the series, developed as a spin-off from my earlier Rounder and Go-Round Series, continuing their circular vocabulary and my ongoing interest in combining stone and metal. Here, two granite elements are linked by a sweeping steel arc, with the larger stone lifted and poised delicately on a single point. The arrangement turns weight, gravity, and balance into gesture, giving these dense, earthbound materials an unexpected sense of movement and levity.
The title comes from classical French ballet and refers to a pose in which one toe lightly touches the ground, the other foot remains firmly planted, and an arm makes a sweeping gesture. I began to think of myself as a kind of choreographer—arranging heavy stone and steel so that they seem almost to dance. In Pique à Terre IV, the circular steel form acts much like that sweeping arm, connecting and animating the stones while transforming their inherent heaviness into a moment of precarious balance and arrested motion.
