September 4, 2014 Weld of the Week #1
This sculpture was inspired by David Smith and a story involving his daughter (Rebecca Smith) and a high school friend of mine who shares the same name and lives in the same town (Bolton Landing, NY) as Smith's daughter. The non-daughter apparently gets the daughter's mail by accident sometimes. Anyway the random serendipity of the story was a departure point for channeling some of David Smith's genius into a homage to my friend. Not that the piece copies Smith's work (although Smith did use circles, he did not use them in this way).
The interplay of curves and circles in this 25"-high sculpture is a fascinating variance of levels and proportions that make for an exciting and truly rare, beautiful and unique composition. This was done when I was 38 and I consider it to be one of my finest abstract masterworks.
Another personal element of the piece is that I hand painted it (in a black to white tonal scale) where the change from light to dark tones resonates with the changing physical volumes and morphing linear thicknesses throughout the piece. The overall result, I think, is a highly complex and cerebral work considering it was done from a rough sketch.
—Linus Coraggio