Sculpture

  

 

There are several sculptures living in the Cornfield  environment  - Boat (Seed and Field),  Tire Swing,  CornCrow,  Corn Goddess Landed,  Maizen Maidens,  and Totems.

 

The wooden sculpture Boat  is a polychrome free-floating ship anchored inside the Chorale  space.  Boat  functions as a multi-dimensional symbol, a layer cake of both masculine and feminine energies.  It is a repository, a silo, a womb, an ark.  The destiny of Boat  is to float on the sea of Maize, anchored next to the Dais in the middle of Cornfield.  

 

"After crafting a tire swing for my kids to go under the large oak tree in our pasture, I looked at the remnant of an old tire from which the seat was carved and remembered the words of a sage about the purpose of the ego.  He said that 'the ego is like a tire, for example, is it not?  It only works well as a vehicle when the pressure inside is balanced . . . not too puffed up, or too flat. When it wears out, as all tires do, you toss it out.'  The sage further explained that all such analogies fall flat when pushed too far, so it's always a good idea to keep a spare in the trunk :)  That tire swing was tethered to a limb in heaven, and gave us hours and hours of delight."  JN  

Various tires appear throughout the Chorale  paintings and sculpture of Cornfield - An Artstory.  A tire may also serve as a vehicle for meaning.  It’s shape as a perfect circle suggests the nature of the energy within.  Tire Swing was created with a kind of amusing curiosity, and grew to become stele-like structure of ascension, a kundalini ladder arising from a ground of emptiness.  In ascending order, the words 'food', 'sex' 'power', 'love', 'art', and 'truth', are incised on the back side.  The top rung of the ladder is empty, save a burnt wick remaining.  The fire of Yoga has done it's work.

This work was named  Tire Swing  to not only to honor the original source of inspiration, but to also highlight the fact that the sculpture physically swings around, rotates, on it's vertical axis when the tire is pushed to the right or the left . . .

 

                                                                       Tire Swing     wood, steel, rubber, polychrome oil and acrylic panels, unfired clay   23”W x 23”D x 103”H

 

 

                                                                                             

                                                                                       Tire Swing Stomp

 

 

 

      

 

 

CornCrow  (Layer Cake)      Maquette.  Oil on wood panel with rotating base, archival prints, steel, and twelve meditating ceramic crows.     39” H  x 14”W  (1/3 scale)

 

 

 

                                                                                                                     Corn Goddess Landed     Ceramic maquette 11" H  x  17"D 

 

 

 

 

Maizen Maidens  (maquettes)   water ceramic clay   12"H                  Water / growth            Sun / harvest            Earth / seed   

                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                           Artwork and design  © James Nichols 1976-2023    All rights reserved