“Saw Blade Tension” This sculpture is about the art of magic. This plant has a dangerous brutality, razor sharp teeth threaten an aggressive hand, but I saw in it a potential for a remarkable grace. I came to these stems with an openness and wonder, discovering the natural arc of the cuttings and accentuating the tension of each calculated bend. The elements are as simple as you can get - human, plant, tension. The tension is everything - it is the delicate balance between plant and artist. Each individual frond pierced the negative space around the curving form - composing a beautiful rhythm of cascading teeth. I bent and pulled and edited each curve with gentleness as if we were dancing together. The first version of this sculpture used invisible fishing line. The figure was striking and totally mystifying, but it didn’t incite the wonder of the tension of our dance. I remember listening to an episode of This American Life as I drove to the studio that day. The magicians Penn and Teller were explaining a classic trick - the floating ball - and as they told the story of the mechanics of the trick and the thread used to control the ball they told the story of the “magic” of magic. If you understand the magic trick, they said, the mechanics of it and the core of its psychology, the trick gets better not worse. It made me think of the layers of understanding that unlock the magic of @garystephanstudio paintings. I decided to reveal the thread. Bright red. When I laid bare the mechanics of the tension, the form became alive - the magic was charged. The sculpture was suddenly mysterious in a whole new way. I painted the stems blue as a final move in our dance - a brushstroke along an electric edge bending with the magic of a creature enchanted by its sorceress. I’m including a link to that radio program in my bio if you want to listen. Over the next month or so, I’ll be sharing my collected writings about some of my favorite pieces - hopefully giving a little window the the magic happening in my studio 😉😙