Wood Art Installation Sub Rosa – Lakes of Fire Grant Recipient 2017
Public Art Installation
A study of light and shade…I wanted an interactive, earth friendly installation that allowed a person to either stand in its’ shade, move through the vortices or be able to sit within it. Natural light flowed through the slatted reeds to enhance the sense of being surrounded by nature, yet quietly contained by the form. As the project developed, it was decided that it could be burnt at the end of Lakes of Fire on the effigy as a fitting end.
Since it was meant to be a sculpture in which to find a moment of peace. I modeled it after the rose flower and it thus carried with it the symbolic weight of femininity and secrecy. Sub Rosa or Latin for “under the rose” was a phrase and custom used by the Romans. In private meetings they would hang a rose above the table to denote secrecy. I was therefore very pleased when a healer set up her things inside the main vortex to give people readings and recommendations on their lives. Overall, people were very complimentary, but my favorite comment was from a four year old, who ran right up to it from the road exclaiming, “This is a very nice thing!”
The inspiration is from a personal artistic exploration. How to deconstruct the effects of industrialization by solving structure and design ideas through natural materials and a limited use of tools, while still embracing a modernistic simplicity of line and form.
Sub Rosa, 12h x 18l x 10w, Reed, Bamboo, Rope, Wire
