7.02.2014

The Aspect of Marco Polo

As we count down to the gallery show opening I've been continuing to finish artworks. This piece has come about somewhat organically. It took a while to find just what I wanted to do with some ulexite stones I bought recently. Ulexite has an interesting projective quality. It does not magnify or refract or distort color as light passes through it, rather it acts like fiber optic cable and projects an image up to its surface.

I knew I wanted to mix elements of stained glass and western vs eastern culture into the piece and I finally settled on the idea of Marco Polo (and from a recent documentary it seems he is now regarded as a fictional figure) and how the western explorers distorted the stories of cultures they brought back with them to the courts and companies that financed their expeditions.

The use of "aspect" in the title refers to a viewpoint, or frame of reference.

While not as intricate a fit as the parts of the Cosmologia piece were, everything still puzzles together rather well and reveals itself in the unfolding

materials used include: walnut, pine, cherry, ulexite, two turkish postcards from the mid 1800s and some brass fittings








1 comment:

darlene said...

I like the pseudo stained glass effect - very nice!