Construct Flower

Stainless and mild steel; found objects
42" X 28" X 28"
2003
Private collection

I do flowers every year, at least one of which goes to a charity auction. This one was for a local housing agency, Construct.

A painter friend and mentor once told me that (paintings of) flowers always sell; everyone enjoys and can relate to flowers.

Georgia O'Keeffe got me going on big flowers, and I really take pleasure in entering into a complete fantasy world while dreaming up these one of a kind works. They almost always have stainless and mild steel mixed together, as well as some industrial found object that finds a soft place (in a flower) to lose a hard edge, and also brings out the industrial-like symmetry that is so often a part of natural objects.

I try to array the leaves or petals in a way that interact with rain and snow so that these year-round flowers are in a constant interplay with their environment.