Iapetus
7” x 17” x 19”
Maine black granite and resin backlit with LED
7” x 17” x 19”
Maine black granite and resin backlit with LED
Iapedus - ADaPting during a pandemic
Leaving New York to be with family during COVID took me to the coast of Maine, away from the studio and resources to which I had grown accustomed. Quarantine further limited my access to easily-sculpted stone.
Maine is rich in granite though - I saw it all around me in the landscape. Granite, however, it is one of the hardest materials on earth.
While under lockdown, I tried to find a block to experiment with - I even called the local tombstone carver.
After finding a block at a local scrapyard, I spent the next 3 months trying and breaking every tool I had at my disposal. Only once I was able to get a hold of diamond-coated grinding discs and coring bores (meant for hardened and reinforced concrete) was I able to finally make progress.
It took another 3 months to craft the block into the finished piece and polish it to a mirror shine.
The finished piece reflects my celestial inspiration as much as it does watching businesses, families, and others in the time of this pandemic - facing that impenetrable block with resourcefulness, ingenuity, and sheer tenacity.
The ring and its illusions, which vary by viewing angle and by focusing on the positive or negative space, can evoke numerous astronomical elements: an orbit, a moon phase, a black hole, an eclipse.
Also visible are the white swirls in the granite, which evoke the stars of a solar system being pulled about by a gravitational field.
This piece is named after Saturn’s third largest moon, Iapedus. With an inclined orbit, it is the only large moon from which there is a clear view of the rings of Saturn.
Most notably it has a bright hemisphere and a dark hemisphere and is tidally locked, that is, it always keeps the same face towards Saturn.
The second most notable feature is its “equatorial ridge,” a chain of 6 mile high mountains girdling the moon’s equator.
Also visible are the white swirls in the granite, which evoke the stars of a solar system being pulled about by a gravitational field.
This piece is named after Saturn’s third largest moon, Iapedus. With an inclined orbit, it is the only large moon from which there is a clear view of the rings of Saturn.
Most notably it has a bright hemisphere and a dark hemisphere and is tidally locked, that is, it always keeps the same face towards Saturn.
The second most notable feature is its “equatorial ridge,” a chain of 6 mile high mountains girdling the moon’s equator.
On the cold, drizzly night when I took photos of this piece, its light and projections cast a sense of warmth on the surroundings. The moment I turned it on, the dark void of the center became a focus of energy which drew me in, to huddle near it like the flame of a campfire.
