1996. Bronze, granite. Dimensions: 92 × 43 × 30 in (234 × 109 × 76 cm). Private Collection - New Jersey
The Latin title translates as “Stone Sail;” the sculpture features a bronze vessel careening off a sparkling gray granite “waterfall”, together they present an interesting suite of ironies.
Stone that we perceive as durable, ageless and heavy takes on the visual fluidity and capriciousness of water, reminding us that granite, an igneous stone, was once liquid. A sail generally get its billowing shape from something as ephemeral as the wind. Sparkling bits of cystatin mica embedded in the granite bring to mind sun sparkling on freshly fallen snow. All these characteristics and associations are quite the opposite of our traditional understanding of stone.
Art often confronts us with these conceptual reversals allowing, or sometimes forcing, us “to see” our preconceived ideas differently. When successful, it can re-align our instinctive understanding of the “real world” and open us up to new ideas and experiences.
John Van Alstine
1996. Bronze, granite. Dimensions: 92 × 43 × 30 in (234 × 109 × 76 cm). Private Collection - New Jersey
The Latin title translates as “Stone Sail;” the sculpture features a bronze vessel careening off a sparkling gray granite “waterfall”, together they present an interesting suite of ironies.
Stone that we perceive as durable, ageless and heavy takes on the visual fluidity and capriciousness of water, reminding us that granite, an igneous stone, was once liquid. A sail generally get its billowing shape from something as ephemeral as the wind. Sparkling bits of cystatin mica embedded in the granite bring to mind sun sparkling on freshly fallen snow. All these characteristics and associations are quite the opposite of our traditional understanding of stone.
Art often confronts us with these conceptual reversals allowing, or sometimes forcing, us “to see” our preconceived ideas differently. When successful, it can re-align our instinctive understanding of the “real world” and open us up to new ideas and experiences.
John Van Alstine
NYC Nohra Haime Gallery 1996
Title and signature
Wells Garden
Info plaque, solo exhibition, Chesterwood Nat. Historic Site, Stockbridge, MA 2022
solo exhibition, Chesterwood Nat. Historic Site, Stockbridge, MA 2022
