$30,000
Cor-ten steel, stainless steel, painted steel
From the artist:
My sculpture, “Arbor Spire”, is one of many works continuous in a body of art that I have been investigating for decades. Organic and structural forms reference connections between the built environment and the natural world. An abstracted tree extends from an industrial spire form, juxtaposed with architectural arcs. The strong, vertical reach, connects earth to sky with a precarious lean; the arcs seem to fall away yet still offer support. Nature reclamation in the built world through purposeful revitalization or in the sheer tenacity of plant life retaking space is a constant source of inspiration.
Artist Bio:
It is my relationship with art, architecture and community – shaped growing up in New Orleans, with its unique history and cultural atmosphere – that drives me to create art in the public realm. I embrace the opportunity to create visual relationships that have structural presence and are available and relevant to community members and the general public. My artwork draws on the natural environment and the built environment to explore the human condition. My imagery incorporates a fusion of elements (traditional with modern, figurative with abstract, architectural with organic) and a wide range of media, including: cast metal, fabricated metal, clay, wood, plaster, concrete, and found objects.
I have recently completed three public art projects with a fourth in process, one for the Louisiana State Parks system, installed January 2016, one for Jefferson Parish, LA consisting of four pieces at the four corners of a historic community (6/2016), another for Little Rock, AR (12/2016), located in front of the Statehouse Convention Center, in partnership with artist Michael Warrick, and finally a piece for Othello, WA scheduled for completion in June 2017.
As a sculptor focused on site-specific public art, my portfolio includes several signature works, such as the LBJ MLK Memorial located in San Marcos, Texas completed in 2014 and Perennial, completed in 2010 for Clackamas County, Oregon. These works are both fabricated of stainless steel.
Among other notable commissions is Ascending Path (2007), a site-specific Cor-ten steel and bronze sculpture for Chattanooga’s Renaissance Park. Created in partnership with artist Brad Bourgoyne, this work was honored as an exemplary national project in Americans for the Arts’ 2008 Year in Review. And, Transcendence (2001), a civil rights memorial at Little Rock’s Central High School National Historic Site, features monumental triumphant arches and a half-acre garden design.
After earning my Master of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University in May 2002, I remained at the school as a Research Specialist for the Art Department for several years. I now work as a full-time artist from my studio(aphstudio.com) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In addition to public and private commissions, I continue an active studio practice.
Artist website: http://www.aphstudio.com/