"Love Bound, with Claws," by Paris Alexander from Raleigh, N.C., is part of a series that deals with death and what we leave behind. (Photo by Jeffrey Stoner)
KINGSPORT, Tenn. -- The City of Kingsport, Tenn., has added a new feature to its annual Sculpture Walk. This year visitors at each site may call 423-200-3205 on their cell phones to obtain a description as well as hear comments from the artist and/or curator.
New sculptures installed in July (2010) include the following pieces:
• Love Bound, with Claws, by Paris Alexander from Raleigh, N.C., is part of a series that deals with death and what we leave behind. Alexander sketched directly on the stone and created a portal of bones, then he began to carve. The top, which began as the ends of two large leaning bones, morphed into heads; and the flowing lines turned into aggressive "claws".
• Contemporary Sebastian, by Shawn Morin from Bowling Green, Ohio, is based on Saint Sebastian, a martyr in the early Christian church. According to Morin, when Sebastian was executed, "archers shot as full of arrows as a hedgehog...[but they] did not kill him. Since this is a contemporary piece, you can imagine the bolts are the arrows."
• Intrusion was created by Harry McDaniel from Asheville, N.C. Common themes in McDaniel's works include humor, a fascination with curves, motion (or implied motion) and an interest in the human condition. In this piece, red and yellow pieces are nestled with a gray piece. Which is the intruder?
• Red Kinetic is by Wayne Trapp from Vilas, N.C. This piece is truly kinetic – it moves. Give it a light push, and you'll see the patterns and rhythm of the blades as they rotate. It's level but looks tilted because of the way it is constructed. Trapp has worked in stone and steel for years, creating lavish, even colossal, outdoor pieces for corporate clients as well as smaller pieces for individuals.
• Coke is Fun II is a whimsical piece by Marvin Tadlock, a professor at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol. The Coke bottle itself is iconic – even without the writing, almost everyone around the world recognizes this product by its package. In this sculpture, the world rotates around the coke bottles that are incorporated in a pillar. The piece utilizes precarious balance to arrest the viewer's attention.
• Balance, by Patti Lawrence from Kingsport, Tenn., is made of painted, pressure-treated lumber and copper. She says, "On the most basic level, my sculptures are visual solutions to the problem 'empty space.' [In this piece,] by juxtaposing opposing materials, I'm attempting to create balance and tension between them through the dynamic interaction of positive and negative space."
• The Fifth Element is by Hanna Jubran, a professor at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. His work addresses the concepts of time, movement, balance and space. Several of his pieces have been installed in downtown Kingsport.
• Voyager is by Glenn Zweygardt, Alfred Station, N.Y. Zweygardt says, "Finding one's place in a relationship with nature is the theme of my sculpture. Further, I want to tell stories and comment on my collective life experience and my perception of a collective consciousness. Hopefully, these ideas and expressions will enter into human consciousness and the fourth dimension."
• Portal is by Mike Roig from Carrboro, N.C. Roig explains, "This piece continues my exploration of what it means to take heavy metal and make it respond to the movement of air." The kinetic, wind-driven sculpture has two round elements that spin independently on vertical axes - the central one in light winds, the upper in heavier winds.
• Vested by Kyle Van Lusk, Brevard, N.C. He says, "The inspiration and underlying theme of my sculpture is creation, the creation of the natural world and human creation. Through form and materials, I convey to viewers a synthesis of power and beauty in a unified form that combines a very distinctive human constructivism with the elegance and harmony of nature."
• Ender's Enigma is by Davis Andrew Whitfield, IV, Mountain City, Tenn. Whitfield says the sculpture "was inspired by the novel Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and the tendency for humanity to destroy that which it does not understand.... Public sculpture can be interpreted however the viewer pleases. By igniting the imagination of the viewer, sculpture allows us to revisit our childhoods, thinking in ways that most of us have not thought in ages."
• Pathos, Sweet, Lost and Found is by Jason Aaron Alderman, Brevard, N.C. The artist describes his work as "raw strength meets tender emotion."
• The Rooster and The Racing Horse are by Noelio Gonzalez, Orlando, Fla. Gonzalez says, "My work is based or related with nature, a spiritual contest for survival....[Metal] gives me the ability to represent nature the most original way possible, reflecting the energy, the beauty, while conserving the texture and physical composition."
Photos of all Sculpture Walk IV sculptures can be found at www.PublicArt.KingsportTN.gov along with other initiatives of the Kingsport Public Art Program. For more information, call 423-392-8416.
