This piece talks about the connection between our physical inner and
outer worlds as well as the life force of Eros and birth.
The work began as a study of three, overlaid hands, part of a much larger
sculpture called "Rapture". As the piece progressed I became
interested in the composition beyond the hands and started thinking
about creating a torso. But the block of stone I was working with was
not quite wide enough to accomodate the complete width of the hips.
This opened up the question of what lay beneath and shifted my focus
to the bone structure supporting the body. And so the pelvic bones became
an integral part of the composition of this sculpture. I became completely
enchanted with the form or, if you will, the architecture of the pelvis
and spent a great deal of time carving this down to the smallest elements
of the sacrum and coccyx. This last element reminds me of a sea turtle.
The sweep and grace of the illium and iliac (hip bones) reminded me
of high-Gothic architecture and also some of Eero Saarinen's work, particularly
his TWA terminal in New York and Dulles Airport near Washington, DC.
The further I got into studying and carving the pelvis, the more I realized
how incredibly beautiful it is as well as unknown and unappreciated
by most people. The word "pelvis" comes from a Latin (verify
this with Riche) word that essentially means, "bone that can not
be described" because it is so complex and difficult to visualize
or draw. But it is inside all of us and like the rest of the human structure,
is something of awesome beauty.
In many Eastern meditation, healing and martial-arts traditions such
as ChiGong, the Life-Force, or Chi, is considered to be held within
the chalice which is the pelvis. Most of us entered the world through
its portal and even if we didn't we all spent a considerable amount
of sublime time within it.