Getting "Gravity" off the ground

Ok, so this is my first attempt at blogging.  I have had some requests that I blog the creation of my newest sculpture.  So here it goes.  

ME:

First and most importantly, a little about me and my family.  I have a wife, Marybeth, and two kids, Ana and Eli.  My wife and I are getting ready to celebrate 20 years of marriage.  Both of our kids are in college and that makes for an interesting change in our lifestyles.  So about 3 years ago, I told Marybeth that I needed to start taking art more seriously.  I graduated with a BFA degree from Western Illinois University in 1995. I then started a design / build company that focuses on Modern architecture. This was a good outlet for my creativity but it didn't replace my need to do art.

MY ART:

I have a website at www.deankugler.com that will give you an idea of what my work looks like.  I work in quite a few mediums using the figure as my primary subject matter but I prefer sculpture.  I have always been interested in the interactive nature of large scale sculpture that is available to the public. So, after I completed my first small scale piece in over 15 years, I decided to go big. I entered a public art contest and won a grant to build the piece titled “Powerless”. I am grateful to that committee because I had no history or experience. I basically submitted the maquette to them along with a proposal and, based on those two things, they felt that I could complete a large scale project. I loved the experience—both in the construct and in the viewer/sculptor relationship—and plan on continuing to pursue large scale work.

GRAVITY:

Overall, my current series of sculptures deal with the dichotomy that exists within us.  Primarily as it relates to strength and weakness.  The figures are presented as healthy, strong and graceful; in control of their environment.  It is when their vision is compromised that the piece is no longer in harmony with the figure as depicted. This series also presents a duality of interpretation in that the loss of vision can be seen as strength.  When we lose the external distractions we are able to look inside ourselves and potentially grow.  So along comes my most ambitious large scale work to date, Gravity.  In addition to the warring issues that this series represents, this new sculpture speaks to the tenuous nature of man and the earth.  People are enamored with the idea of flying and no longer being tied to the ground.  Our dreams are about flying and our technology strives towards it.  The strength of this winged figure is compromised by the cloth on his face.  The cloth reminds me of a hood like the falcon wears.  It also appears to be in the process of falling off and freeing the figure to his flight.  The large piece will also have tethers that pierce and restrict his wings.  When it is complete, I want it to appear that there is tension on the wings such that he about to break his bonds.  Gravity will be about 17' at the wing tip when it is complete with the top of the head of the figure at about 7 1/2'.  I am going to do the greater portion of the sculpture in public at one of the courtyards in downtown Davenport.  I love the idea of creating work in public.  I will offer a few set dates and times that I discuss the work as well as the process.

So here goes nothing.  Stay tuned if you want to see me make a spectacle of myself.  :-)


Dean.

Some different views of the study for the finished piece.