A circle indicates unity and wholeness. A passage or portal is often used as a symbol for moving from one place to another, from the known to the unknown. By extension, it symbolizes moving from the past into the future, with the present or the moment between the two.
A metaphor often used in association with time is water or a river. Time is like a flowing river, always moving, ever changing. A cross cultural image of water is a serpentine line.
A square is a symbol of stability, the material world and the earth itself. The square, the ring and the serpentine line are all universal symbols. The psychologist Carl Jung called them “archetypal” symbols, they are root images used throughout the world.
At its heart, the wealth of Indiana has been its fertile earth, the water that nourishes that ground, and the people that populate the land.
At the southeast corner of the plaza within a carved square planting area is a live dwarf tulip poplar, the state tree of Indiana. On its own this tree acts as a time capsule. Planted during Indiana’s Bicentennial it will mark the passage of time as it develops and grows.
Near the southwest corner of the plaza is a square stone at seating height. Carved into the upper face of the stone are depictions of the major waterways that travel through and in some cases delineates the boundaries of our state. The carved images include waterways shared with surrounding neighbors.
Here, our state is defined by the life blood of the land. Toward the southwest corner of this stone is the juncture of two major rivers that influence our state, the Wabash and the Ohio. That juncture visually moves onto the pavement at that point and spirals back around the entire carved stone of the state rivers moving outward from the confines of the plaza.
The Indianapolis International Airport
The four geometric primary shapes in both compositions are symbols in both Eastern and Western cultures of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water. Traditionally the four elements are depicted as a square representing earth, a crescent or cup shape representing air, a triangle representing fire and a circle representing water. Combined, this quartet culminates in ether or more literally the spirit. Within these two compositions I have organized the geometric progression so that the forms appear to twist and dance over the surface of the stone. Linear elements have been added to the forms in order to emphasize this movement. Carved in proximity to each of these forms is the Latin word for each element, Terra, Aqua, Ignis and Aeris. The final image in the progression is the crescent, “air or Latin, aeris”. It is set apart and flying aloft in both compositions. The intent is to both emphasize the primary activity of the airport, “flight” and also indicate the association of air to the freedom of the flight of the spirit.
The carved Native American imagery is intended to pay homage to the origins of Indiana’s historic heritage as well as the source of the state’s name.
The silhouettes of the state are a simple contemporary rendition of where and who we are. The visual movement of the repetitive silhouettes and the four elements portray a dance.
The association between the Native American imagery and the depiction of the political boundary of Indiana acknowledges the past and the present of this location. The four elements superimposed over this composition is intended to imply the alchemy of time and circumstances that have taken place. The culmination of the four elements celebrates the spirit of what we have become.
Bloomington City Hall/B-Line Trail, Bloomington, IN
The City of Bloomington is known for its wealth of the arts and a feast for the senses. It is known for music for performing arts for visual arts for the landscape for cultural and intellectual diversity for restaurants and as a host of community festivals. Besides basketball the aforementioned cultural activities draw people from all across the globe. In short, Bloomington is well known as a destination that feeds the soul. This sculpture is intended to make reference to this basic human need and one that Bloomington uniquely provides.
It is apparent that there is a degree of whimsy and humor employed in the imagery presented here. The image of the Bloomington courthouse dome has been inverted to become a bowl. From that bowl emanates a steam upon which brews the courthouse fish. I consider both the courthouse dome and Mr. Seward’s fish as primary icons of Bloomington. As literal as this may be, the people that love the Bloomington community are the ones that partake of its cultural stew. The whimsy is intended but, it also hopes to speak of larger things
The image of a table and chairs is a reference to the origins of the site which was the location of the Showers furniture factory. It is also a reference to the diversity of Bloomington. The dinner table is known as the peaceful meeting place for all cultures. It is where we all take sustenance and exchange experience. A significant part of Bloomington is its cultural mix which comes to the forefront in the multicultural arts and foods available in the community.
Recreation and Wellness Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
The title, “Hermes Gate” refers to Hermes the messenger of the gods in Greek Mythology. Hermes could travel between the world and the heavens or the known and the unknown, from the physical to the psyche. He is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, literature and poets and of athletics and sports.
Witten Park, Fishers, IN
The composition is set on a 65’ wide arc of which the concave side faces Saxony Blvd. The arc is comprised of 20 individually shaped and carved stones which in concert create a visually moving rhythm that also serves as a pedestrian gateway to the woodlands beyond. The stones range from 16” to 15’ in height and are individually 9” and 6” in depth. Selected stones within the composition are tied together by means of fabricated steel brackets. The brackets are both design elements of the composition and connections that tie the larger stone elements together, structurally solidifying their placement. Taking cues from the Saxony Development philosophy and from the character of the intended site for this community sculpture, the composition, “Rolling Rhythm” portrays the rhythmic cadence and flow of active life through diverse and dynamic form. The varieties of forms in this sculpture are independently vital yet cohesive thus evoking similarities between individuals, families and neighborhoods that are also independent yet part of a whole. Similar to a composer’s score, the composition ebbs and flows in meter and measure as do the actions of an individual and on a larger scale, a community. The material of the composition speaks of tradition and a heritage unique to Indiana which is echoed throughout Saxony.
Longs Peak Totem
The Sculpture is intended to both reference and pay homage to Longs Peak which is prominent in the background. The “saw tooth” support brackets abstractly portray a mountain range in their peak and valley form while they simultaneously speak of Native American patterning and imagery. The culminating supported stone form features a profile of the mountains beyond. The intent is to create an image of the mountain range that speaks of the spirit of the mountains. Here, in the sculpture the mountains are not depicted by substance but they are defined by surrounding imagery. Within this sculpture the mountains themselves are the open ethereal space between the column and the supported form above.
The stone portion of either sculpture is carved with a repetitive pattern that is evocative of the landscape of the earth. All surfaces of the stone is textured in undulating patterns that are revealed as the sun moves through the sky or at night by base lights that illuminate and rakes the surface dramatically drawing out the carving.
Bloomington Transit Center, Bloomington IN
The sculptureis intended to imply movement: the ovoid shapes are moving in a line, and the visual motion is accentuated by the overlaying linear elements that vibrate around and through the progressing “wheels”. The bright warm colors are gradated in order to enliven and add to the forward flow of the composition.
Crescent Bend Neighborhood Round-About, Bloomington, IN
Positioned at the center of the roundabout the form of the sculpture is evocative of a torchiere. LED lighting emanates from and between the limestone slabs at the apex of the piece. At the juncture of these roads the sculpture becomes a beacon for the residents of the neighborhood. The inspiration for the roundabout centerpiece is a literal interpretation of the neighborhood’s name, “Crescent Bend”. The composition displays bisecting crescent forms near the top while the supporting column displays a distinct bend.
Clear Creek Trail, Bloomington, IN
This sculpture was created at the behest of a community donor. The piece stands at the head of a public hiking and biking trail.
White River Gardens
Courthouse Seating Plaza
Monroe County Courthouse, Bloomington, IN
Indiana Governor's Residence, Indianapolis, IN
This sculpture was created for the exhibition, "200 Years of Indiana Art: A Cultural Legacy" at the Indiana State Museum in 2016. The exhibition coincided with the State's 2016 Bicentennial Celebration. The sculpture has since become a permanent part of the museum's collection and stands near the White River Canal at the State Museum.
Tree of Life
William H. Willennar Genealogy Center
Philosophers and historians alike refer to this image as the "Tree of Life". It is also sometimes referred to as the "Axis Mundi" or the "World Axis". The symbolism, in part, refers to our connection to the earth and our human need to grow, not only physically but even more so, intellectually and spiritually.