February 1996. Granite, bronze. Dimensions: 72 × 32 × 46 in (183 × 81 × 117 cm).
SLIPPERY SLOPE, bronze and granite, 72”h x32”w x48”w
Collection: Henry and Sylvia Heumann, Utica, NY
Many of my works contain boats which can be interpreted as a symbol for the self – often in the mists of a journey or passage. As the title suggests Slippery Slope presents the viewer with a bronze boat cascading down to an undetermined fate …
The stone, which in reality is earthbound, heavy and hard, is portrayed in this piece as a sail which propels the boat form and as water which carries and “slips” it downward. In both cases the stone is transformed from its “material-ness” in reality to the ephemeral states of a sail – which takes its form from nothing more than the wind and water which is fluid and transparent. It is exactly these transformations that give the work its power and mystery and keep us coming back time and time again to re-experience the magic
John Van Alstine August 2003
February 1996. Granite, bronze. Dimensions: 72 × 32 × 46 in (183 × 81 × 117 cm).
SLIPPERY SLOPE, bronze and granite, 72”h x32”w x48”w
Collection: Henry and Sylvia Heumann, Utica, NY
Many of my works contain boats which can be interpreted as a symbol for the self – often in the mists of a journey or passage. As the title suggests Slippery Slope presents the viewer with a bronze boat cascading down to an undetermined fate …
The stone, which in reality is earthbound, heavy and hard, is portrayed in this piece as a sail which propels the boat form and as water which carries and “slips” it downward. In both cases the stone is transformed from its “material-ness” in reality to the ephemeral states of a sail – which takes its form from nothing more than the wind and water which is fluid and transparent. It is exactly these transformations that give the work its power and mystery and keep us coming back time and time again to re-experience the magic
John Van Alstine August 2003
