Mending
34 x 16 x 16 inches
Cherry / Walnut / Copper
Private Collection
Mending is my first major work and was truly part of the mending of my soul. It was mending me in another way. The powerful tangles of the up-side-down cherry root is raised by the sapling trunk. The base is mended with copper wire. The decayed bark on the root system was taken-off with a grinder—to reveal a beautiful interior. The base is made from baltic birch lamination cut on a bandsaw at a 45-degree angle. Copper wire is sewn into the base to mend it and hold it together. Viewed from different sides a myriad of interpretations emerge. I submitted this sculpture into my first exhibition, which was juried by J Carter Brown and was honored with a Sculpture/Mixed Media Award.
Mending
The wire joins the jagged edges
the copper sinews bind the broken pieces
once wholly perfect
now split apart—damaged
With these puzzled parts
the artist labors and new form bursts
through the tortured mass
seeks its fresh expression in filtered light
With awe, her spirit meshes with organic form
to release that creative grace
those arms embrace the world
that caused its death and its rebirth
The artist works in concert with
this stranger who demands her due,
who emerges from the found remains
to seize the life she was meant to have
