This 1921 Corona 3 portable typewriter has such an elegant design, I couldn't resist using it as part of a sculpture that relates to the avian wing, with its beauty and symbolic implications.
The Latin root of the word Corona means garland or crown. The Greek root refers not only to a crown but to other curved objects, similar to another word that means beak and is the same root word, korax, that is used for the bird family Corvidae, ravens and crows.
When I design a sculpture, it's meaning comes to me in many ways, most of them not very logical. I try to tie feelings with concepts with symbols and historical references, creating a salad of parallel impressions that connect to shape, material, memory, conviction, unconscious influences and conscious ones.
In the case of this sculpture, I began with my decades-long appreciation for the Japanese art of jizai okimono, articulated animals, fish, birds, reptiles, insects and dragons made out of various materials from wood to mixed metals. Treat yourself to a search for the term, you will not be disappointed. Their work is really among the finest metal work ever created!
I was privileged to have been tasked to repair a Japanese steel hawk in my career as a repair metalsmith. Seeing this sculpture changed my life and solidified my commitment to craft. I would not have found the fortitude to pursue sculpture without the influences that brought me joy and the knowledge of what was possible with sculptural metalwork.
`"Self Organization" is a bronze sculpture that utilizes a 1938 Underwood 14" carriage typewriter as the foundation for eight individually sculpted tentacles. This sculpture is totally unique, will never have an edition or copy.
This hybrid creature comes to life and reaches for the letter "I", as a metaphor for all of intelligent life, that seeks to attain self organization and realization.
Neural network portrait of the octopus
3rd Annual SLOMA California Sculpture Slam--San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
California Sculpture Slam
https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/california-sculpture-slam-hits-sloma/Content?oid=2942641
"If Our Days Won't Last", Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, 2017 at Distinction Gallery
Featured in Heritage Post Magazine, April 2016
Art, Ltd., SLOMA Gallery California Sculpture Slam, October 2015
Whitefish Review, used by permission, 20th issue
Fordham University Press, used by permission, The Writing of Spirit by Sarah Pourciau 2015
Western Washington University literary magazine, used by permission, 2017
california sculpture slam 2015
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