The Migrant Sculpture

"The Migrant" An evolving concept that has come to its journey's end. This piece was first begun when I took my first-ever fiber techniques class while studying at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My instructor at the time challenged us to create an exercise, using fiber coiling as our technique, but on materials not traditionally associated with the practice. Trying to be macho at the time, I decided to use thin copper wire to create a small basket, starting from a core of dyed aluminum wire that was hooped on one end, then wound with copper wire. By design it was meant to radiate out in an enlarging spiral; and given enough time of alternating between circling around the core with the copper wire and securing each progressive layer with the last as I proceeded, I finished it in one weekend. The piece reminded me of the granulation techniques of Etruscan and Indian metal smiths, with light bouncing off the high points of the copper like the pointillistic details of a Seurat painting. The texture of the metal as rubbed in your fingers had a richness of sensation that I wanted to compulsively enlarge. From that one weekend I decided to make another one, but this time to bring it to the size of a fruit bowl. Feeling sufficiently bold, I set off to finishing the piece, day and night for two weeks. At the end I achieved my said goal and brought it to the instructor, who then gave me high marks. It never felt complete as it was. After finishing college, I had kept it in my residence and worked on it in small blocks of time. The end goal was to then extend the form, where at the edges of the bowl I would intentionally bend each layer of wire outwards and to the side of the bowl, intending to make a radiating plane that would be about 8 feet in diameter when all told. But the material was such a difficult task, physically and mentally. I had to secure every length of wire while keeping the original vision in mind, but after a certain point the piece started becoming supple and pliant like thick leather, and as I tied it down, whatever warping I had put on its overall form will be imprinted. Very subtle, and beyond my capacity to counteract. Therefore every new rotation around its periphery would begin to warp to a larger extreme than the last. The timeline of its creation was approximately seven months, consisting of anywhere between 7-10 hours or more a day, just sitting and turning it around between my knees as I coiled the wire. And if you ask how an adult had this much time on their hands, I had fallen off a ladder and nearly snapped my right elbow! At the time I was working for a local company in Hawaii as a demolition laborer. On the New Year's eve of that year in 2013, my manager forgot to secure the ladder we were using, and for some reason I decided to come down the thing while facing away from the ladder. Suddenly it folded in half and I fell forwards, straight toward a concrete walkway. My body raced downwards through 9 feet of air, and I braced myself against pavement with my right hand. The impact was just right and I had stiffened at the perfect moment that the elbow didnt fold completely in either direction, but resulted in me nearly tearing all the tendons and ligaments around it! So for my New Year's celebration I had the great fortune of fireworks going off on my elbow, an idiot manager who gave me workman's compensation without question and a slice of pizza just to say sorry for the mishap! The injury didn't leave me completely incapacitated however. My other hand was free, while the fingers on my injured arm could move, even as the rest of it was on a sling. From this circumstance I began to work on the coiling project again. Sitting in my narrow room, and fighting off depression with lots of drink, I spend the next seven months, just continuously burning through daylight as I coiled it inch by inch while watching Doctor who episodes on youtube. Ive come to view this work through two lenses of metaphor. Naming it "The Migrant," I saw it as a viewpoint on societys perception of menial labor. Immigrants all over the world perform most of the low-paying, dull jobs that the privileged and well-off refuse to do. Yet it is only upon reflection that most people can appreciate their work when stepping back and viewing it in its totality. My process in its creation was in a similar vein, where I was doing a repetitive task that on close inspection wasn't all that interesting, until your eyes pull back towards the rim of the piece, coupled with your awareness of how far I was intending to push it outwards. Life in general was the second tier of meaning I had woven in. Many of us journey through our existence, starting from a place of order, but approaching disarray and entropy as we approach our end. Inch by inch, day by day we try to enforce our intention on ourselves, those around us, and on reality itself, thinking we can construct a beautiful end, or a lifestyle that is totally ours. But our intent is greatly overpowered by our incapacity to see the totality of time. Everything seems straightforward at the beginning, until our desires confront physical laws and emotional limits, and are forced to make peace with what is, but endless opining of what could have been, and alternate realities. These progressions are reflected in the piece's evolving shape and the effects of time on its patina, and the interruptions of outside color as reflected in the dye towards the center of the vortex. Since completing the piece in early 2014 I had it exhibited locally at Hawaii Craftsmen's In, Of and About Fiber Exhibition, where it won First Place in the 3d category for the entire state. Three years ago I had almost lost in a house fire, wherein my landlord's drug-addicted daughter had unintentionally set a fire in her room and had burned the upper floor of a duplex. Luckily the fire didn't spread downstairs, but most of my possessions were lost to water and mold. But "The Migrant" stayed to one corner and wasn't affected by either fire or water damage! She has traveled with me through so much, paralleling my existence. I wish for her to take on new journeys. p.s. "The Migrant" won the Award of Excellence in 3D at Hawaii Craftsmen In, Of and About Fiber Exhibition in November 2014

Sculpture:Steel on Aluminium

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:33 W x 39 H x 33 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.