Sculpture

My first sculpture would be the wind sculptures of Lyman Whitaker a sculpture from Utah. These lovely sculptures have graced the lawn of The Bennington Center For the Arts in Bennington. VT since 1998. I would identify these as both abstract and environmental because they are outside in the rain wind and snow so anytime throughout the year we have a nice wind blowing you get to experience the beautiful shapes oscillating in the breeze. These are made of copper and steel and are secured using a vertical rod and are secured into the group and the smaller ones are typically cemented into the ground itself. Some are small and some are large or in-between and because they are each uniquely made you never know what shapes you might see when you’re looking at them.

The wind sculptures are free standing groups sculptures; they specifically call this grouping a forest. As I said above, these are made out of the copper and stainless steel and there are many forms used in these. The largest most prominent one has geometric diamond shapes but others are more round and irregular and are organized by type on each wind sculpture. But when the wind blows on them they have the tendency to look vastly different and much more abstract. The lines are closed when they’re not moving and are at a stand-still but once they start moving then they are more open lined.

You must observe these from all points of view and in many weather conditions to fully appreciate the complexity that this man puts into his sculptures. Sometimes they seem to transcend space and sometimes they seem to be a part of space and belong there. The color is a grey slate kind of color but infused with a whole spectrum of color that isn’t evident until the sun hits them or until they start moving. Once you see them fully sparkling and turning is when they feel the most expressive to me as if they are telling a story to you, you feel so captivated and drawn in to them and you just can’t look away.