Artway Phase Four

Stalemate
Robert Coon

In the game of chess, the king cannot move into a threatening position. If the situation arises that the king cannot move at all without being threatened, it creates a no-win/no-lose condition called a stalemate. This Stalemate is a sculptural work of three verticals. My concern in making it was the interaction of the curved areas with the straights. Playing them off each other by arranging the verticals at various angles created additional shapes in the negative space between these suggested chess pieces. You might say that there are five verticals, three positives and two negatives. The visual interplay of these abstract shapes is intended to suggest the game of chess.

My works are made from sheet aluminum. I cut, bend and weld pieces into a semi-preconceived form. I say “semi” because as the sculpture progresses, forms may be changed, ideas altered, pieces added or subtracted before the final object is achieved After grinding and finishing I apply primer and paint. The paint not only protects, but gives me the ability to add color. Some works are painted in one solid color, and others have several colors on various planes. Sometimes I use a base color, with a variety of additional colors and brushwork.

Iliana
Joni Younkins-Herzog

Tapping into unusual imagery with large, expressive botanical forms that incorporate a sense of organic architecture, this 17-foot sculpture is made of welded steel rods, like a spider web with cross braces that reinforce the material. The “skin” is covered with lace and adds a texture found in my outdoor works. This piece is an outrageous, colorful version of an infamous bloom of the nightshade family – brugmansia – with a mysterious spider inside. Like the spider, I lure the viewer in to contemplate the luscious colors and materials. My sculptures are hybrids, mythologies, and metaphors about flowers. My interest in botany and herbalism inform my inspiration in the studio. My goal is to represent the feminine mystique on a grand scale.

Flying
Robert D. Clements

Perhaps it sounds saccharine or maudlin, but the sculpture I call Flying grew out of my happy marriage of 56 years. The man holds up the woman. The woman, held aloft, reaches out for birds and celestial things, symbols of what is important in life, savoring happy times.

HERE
Willie E. Williams Jr.

Through the pain and suffering
That 400 years of American torture has brought
HERE
Although stereotyped, demonized, and ostracized
Black Women are HERE
They curve and contort their bodies and spirits
Through the anguish and shame that history has brought
They stand tall, monumental, and strong as steel
Unbreakable and unmovable
Beautiful, resilient, and dignified
Our mother, sister, humanly human
Black women are
and will always be
We are
Because she is
HERE – Human . Eternal . Relevant . Empowered

Popsicles
C.R. Gray

I create art to connect community, explore culture and construct guideposts for life. Weaving stories, warming the creative soul, and bringing happiness to the heart are just a few of the objectives of my work.

I use rugged materials and incorporate symbols that embrace aspects of a place to created bridges between generations of people from diverse backgrounds. Popsicles is a sculpture inspired by childhood vacations and the roadside Americana experienced along those journeys.

Undulation
Jordan Fowler

My work is a sculptural exploration of abstract form with steel. Mainly composed of geometric and planer elements that revolve and intersect, my sculpture sometimes resembles architecture or figurative poses. I’m heavily influenced by naturally occurring geometry on both micro and macro scales. When exploring form, I like to apply laws that mimic those found in nature in order to provide a framework for interesting direction.

Undulation captures wave-like forms constricted to a thin cylindrical shape. The work is entirely made of seam-welded steel panels with a sea-greenish paint to contrast with the red oxidized edges. Undulation started as a combination of curved pieces of scrap metal from a previous project. With no original model dictating the fabrication of the piece, creating Undulation was an improvisation. It was built from the center outwards; each new component a reaction to balance the form and flow visually.