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Showing posts from August, 2021

A Deeper Look at Jim Hodges' Shining Boulders

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 Jim Hodges’ sculptural boulders, Untitled (2011). Source: Walker Art Center, Paul Schmelzer  © All Rights Reserved. One is easily captivated by Jim Hodges' shining boulders, with their brilliant colors and refracting light. The idea behind these pieces came to him during a trip to India. Jim's experiences of a cacophony of color and complex layering: temples flying flags in Rajasthani fields, Ganesha statues painted orange and gold, images of the Hindu deity Hanuman enhanced with red or orange paint, women pouring water as they prayed...  “As you walk amid the sculptures and they are animated by light, they at once seem massive and monumental yet light and buoyant, almost weightless,” Walker executive director Olga Viso wrote. For Hodges, the initial idea came to him quickly, but the process to fabricate the stainless-steel high-gloss skins to each rock, each over 400 million years old, was an intensive and prolonged process. Paul Schmelzer writes: "Seemingly dipped in ...

Sparkflight Studios believes in the power of public art.

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Marble Manor Enhancement Project (2009), Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority. Image by Sparkflight Studios, © All Rights Reserved. Sparkflight Studios believes in the power of public art. From our experiences, we know art to be a vehicle for uplifting the human spirit. Over the years, we have refined our approach, which tends to be four-fold, ranging from the "small" to the "extra-large": Small: attention to detail, materiality, and scale. Medium: the concinnity of the "small" elements.  Large: sensitivity to the social, environmental, historical, and cultural milieu. Extra-Large: holding the past, living the present, and projecting art for future generations. In the past, we've posted organizations such as Artolution and Forecast , to whom we look towards for trustworthy guidance when it comes to making powerful art and positive change in communities. For us too, community participation is important. For instance, in our Canal Convergence scul...