refigured limits
Client: The Greater Texas Foundation
Location: Bryan, Texas
Completed: 2011
This commission is part of the Greater Texas Foundation’s private collection. The foundation requested a piece which would display well with the other artwork previously collected in order to present a consistent, ‘curated’ exhibit. The other artists and the foundation had placed a great emphasis on water, specifically the Brazos River. Their work is strictly representational and quite different from my own. In order to relate with the rest of the collection, I started with the Brazos for inspiration. A map of the Brazos shows a notable section closest to the site where the river doubles back. I abstracted this "in" and "out" into two simplified semi-circles -- one above and one below a tapered pecan plank that leads the viewer from left to right and reinforces the directional flow of the "river." The river is constructed of pecan bark, laid on its side and strung along a steel rod.
The title, Refigured Limits, works on multiple levels. First, it speaks of the ever-changing path and dimension of the active river as it continually redefines its boundaries. The title also refers to the way the piece simply rearranges two parts that were once inextricably linked. The bark and the heartwood from the same tree have been repositioned to create something new and relate in a new way. The limits of the tree were redefined.
