Mixed Media Vessel
Sculptures of Iron and Paper - with copper as
a kind of mediator
 
"Energy Transformers" -
Vessel of Energy™ sculptures that harmonize
paper and iron, bring opposing parts into a
new whole.
You can think of iron as
carrying the energy of Mars, while paper is
like Venus. So harmonizing iron and paper in
one sculpture is like harmonizing men and
women. Hmm. Human beings have been working
on this for centuries!
These sculptures are also
about resolving conflicts between parts of
ourselves that seem completely opposed. This
frees up tremendous energy for loving,
healing, and creating.
These bowls are leading me to a place I've
never been before. This is a place - a
state of being - in which being alive is
enough. Aliveness is plenty. There's no
need to impress anyone, prove I can do
anything, show I can justify my life. I can
be effortless. For a
little girl who grew up needing to earn
straight A's in order to ensure her parents
love, this is a lot. That little girl still
lost her father after her parents divorced.
Fear of abandonment has been a big theme all
my life. Yet these bowls
are bigger than all that. May each bowl be
larger than your own vulnerabilities as
well. May these bowls lead you to fullness
of life. That's what I
want, for all of us.
 How
this new series came about
Since 1990, I've been wanting
to make vessels that harmonize iron and
paper. In 1992 I made some small "prayer
bowls" of copper or iron, with oriental
paper collaged inside. This was a step, but
not enough. I wanted the paper to be equal
in the relationship. My
last exhibit of my iron bowls was at a show
about art and women's spirituality. There a
woman expressed astonishment that I was also
the maker of the paper medicine bags. The
colorful soft bags with their bright floss
and metallic threads were polar opposites to
the muted colors and hard surfaces of the
iron bowls. Only a shared vessel form united
them. At that exhibit I also showed a large
blank white board - a symbol of starting
fresh, from nothing. The point was -
accepting not knowing.
What I needed was a mediator. Copper mesh
finally offered its services. In
Iron John, Robert Bly talks about how
copper is about mediating. Too much copper
in the inner self can make one end up only a
mediator, a harmonizer, a placator, with the
result an estrangement from the soul. I used
to disdain copper as a material for my art -
too soft, not enough resistance, all surface
shine. Ironically, copper turned out to be a
great mediator between paper and iron.
 Glass
and gemstones, too, take their place in
these pieces. I'm sure there's a good
explanation for this in Chinese thought and
Feng Shui. Certain materials need others
between them, to harmonize well. I just
instinctively added the glass and gems as
needed. Often the beads are swarovski
crystal - so much for disdaining surface
shine!
Copper Mesh
It's interesting that the
copper I choose is mesh formed like a grid.
I've been thinking for a long time that I'd
like to create a harmony between the "square
grid patterns" of my Midwestern upbringing,
and the curving meander patterns of the
hilly woodland region I call home now. These
are more than landscape patterns. They're
patterns of belief, thought, perhaps even
feeling. The grid is logical, practical,
modern. The meander is wild, flowing,
ancient. The grid seems
to offer safety. It's the appeal of rules,
for someone like me brought up with many,
many rules. And the grid represents the
cultural pressure to follow society's rules.
It's like the wise civilization of the East.
The curving meander offers
freedom, transformation, the lure of the
unknown. It's the adventure of the West.
Both grid and meander are
built into the mythology of America. Both
are of value. To harmonize the two, to bring
them into synergy, would be of even greater
value. So perhaps bending the grid of the
copper mesh, is a beginning solution.
 Paper
- Soft Unryu
The paper in these Energy
Transformer pieces is an oriental paper
called Soft Unryu. Unryu means "cloud
dragon." The soft unryu is the ultimate in
soft paper - as soft as cloth, wonderful to
touch. In
"Love
Goes Everywhere" the white edges of the
unryu paper are like soft wisps of cloud.
I've used watercolor paper as
well. Of course it's much stiffer. "Stand up
for yourself!" In the
first piece in this series,
"Energy
Transformer," the unryu paper is molded
and layered with acrylic gel medium so it's
quite strong. Then it's painted and
varnished. This followed my previous methods
for making paper vessels, except that the
copper mesh added reinforcement and enabled
me to leave spaces - openings for energy to
flow freely. After
"Energy Transformer" was formed but not yet
painted, the World Trade Center fell on
September 11, 2001. A few months later, I
had a bad fall and broke some bones. After
this, I dared to use paper by itself,
without molding it like paper mache. Both
9/11 and the broken bones taught me to begin
to accept my own fragility, and the
fragility of life. So I was able to allow
the paper to be fragile too.
 Iron
I kept trying to persuade
myself to begin with the iron, to mold the
copper mesh and paper around it later.
Perhaps I'll do this. But at least for these
first three pieces, the iron came last. I
shaped the iron to harmonize with the paper
and copper mesh. If iron symbolizes force,
and paper symbolizes vulnerability, then
perhaps this was the only way to equalize
the relationship. In
this series, the iron is painted. I did a
lot of research earlier, in 2000, to test
the paint and varnish options. All the
finishes are acrylic. I start by bead
blasting the iron once it's forged and all
joints are made. Then I paint two layers of
DTM (Direct to Metal) acrylic primer, the
first with more rust inhibitor. That's
followed by as many coats of white or black
as are needed for good coverage.
After that's cured, I apply
artist gesso and paint with regular high
quality artist acrylics - mostly Golden
Artist Colors. This enables me to paint the
iron with the same paint I use on the paper.
When the coloring is well dried, I varnish
the iron with two or three coats of General
PolyAcrylic. Finally, it's waxed with
General Satin Wax.
 The
Spheres and Beads
Each of these pieces so far
has wanted a gemstone sphere - quartz or
amethyst.
 The
beads are Czech glass, Swarovski crystal
beads, and metal. In
"Love
Goes Everywhere" I also used obsidian
beads (which symbolize letting go) and
bright chrome washers.
Another series coming: "The
Sacred Grove"
For several years I've been
working toward another series of iron and
paper sculptures that will also include
natural branches and vines, sometimes fused
and slumped glass as well. The working title
for the series is "The Sacred Grove."
I believe these vessel sculptures will aid
in making decisions - decisions that are
good for the soul. They also offer courage -
courage to speak the truth in love. And
they're about staying in balance.
If this series interests you,
please
email me to say so. I'll let you know
when the first sculptures are done, so you
can have a preview.
Interested in how Vessel of Energy™
sculptures might enhance a waiting room,
office, or conference room?
More....
Typical alternate
spellings for important words in this page
include: vessles,
decrative metal art, paper sculpter, healing
chrystals Additional
keyword phrases that would help someone find
this page include:
mixed media 3-d sculpture, copper metal art,
examples of mixed media art, paper mache
art, hand-made paper bowls, gemstone chakra
healing |
