Thoughts on Sculpture

Is found art sculpture? Does sculpture have to be formed by man’s hand to qualify? How about our vision, our ability to perceive the same qualities in a natural object that appeal to us in a man-made form? Is this why the gnarled roots and reaching branches of trees appeal to me?

Can this vision, this internalization, be understood as my active role in the "creation" of sculpture? When it is translated photographically to the image before you, do you "see" my intention?

Ultimately the question is "why do I like this image?". Is it the subject? Is it the pattern my eyes take over it? Do I look at 2D differently than 3D? Is that difference because there is a recognizable isolated object in front of me that I apply the "sculptural " code of analysis rather than the "flat surface " code?

I think that when I look at a landscape as a whole, I am looking for the presence or absence of harmony, colour interest, lights and darks, interesting visual patterns throughout the image. When I look at the photo of a sculptural object, I want to touch it, take it in my arms, feel it’s substance and texture. A red barn in a golden fold of hills doesn’t make me feel like that, but makes me want to look at it over and over again, different from, and yet with some of the same elements as, my response to the sculptural object.

The image of the two maples in particular inspires this "sculptural" response. I delight in the movement of my eye up into the blank sky, but more than that I want to hug those trunks, walk around them, appreciate them from every angle, and wonder at their marked diminishment as they reach for the light. Even though emphasized by the angle, this diminishment still is marked, just as it is marked in Willow 1, and it makes me think about the tiny area of the sky that these branches own in relation to the massive trunks. All of this leads to an appreciation of the volume of space that the subject of the image occupies.

So opens a dialogue on the nature of the appeal of the sculptural even though this show is composed of 2D images.

.