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Transcript

Petal to the Metal

New aluminum sculptures
detail from Better Angels, an installation at Evanston Art Center, January 2023

I make sculptures and installations evoking the complex beauty and emotional connections that I find in abstracted natural forms: leaves, flowers, bones, and seashells. Large organic shapes spiral and bend dancer-like, creating a dynamic and interactive experience. Walking through an environment of voluptuous cocoons of color suspended from the ceiling, the viewer can enter my imaginary world, walk around each piece, bend down to peer through holes or stretch upwards to see new perspectives.

Make them permanent, my friends said. Make them so they can live outside all year long, they urged me. Ok, ok, I get it. Lightweight plastic is great for indoor installations, and it is very easy to ship because I just roll ‘em up. But - not great in a windstorm. So, thanks to a fantastic woman-owned metal fabricator, www.amdesignfab.com in Providence, I translated seven of my pieces into aluminum and steel.

My first metal pieces were created in 2021, and are both meant to suspend from above. Could be a ceiling hook, could be from a transom. Here’s one that lives outside on my back porch, no matter what kind of weather.

And this is another that lives in Sweden now. Its made of steel.

You know those big hanging sculptures in airports? That’s where I want to see my work, and making these smaller pieces in metal is intended to also be a proof of concept. Put a metal piece next to its plastic counterpart and it’s practically impossible to tell the difference.

Alaina Mahoney, the owner of AMDesigns, is a sculptor as well as a fabricator, and she was great to work with, helping me to understand the process of recreating my imagery in metal each step of the way. It’s not easy to find someone who is willing to do smaller projects with an artist.

Leaf, in it’s unpainted state.

The first step was to send Alaina outlines of the plastic sculpture which were then translated into a CAD program and sent to a laser cutter. The cut pieces came back to Alaina, where she and her co-workers rolled the curves and welded joints.

Leaf, acrylic on aluminum, 40” x 40” x 15”, 2023
The bare aluminum forms, finished and ready for me to paint.

The four other completed sculptures hang on a wall and weigh no more than 3 pounds. They are exceptional wall enhancements for any corporate or domestic space.

If you or someone you know is interested in prices or commissions, contact me at adriaarch@gmail.com. And to see more of my work, here’s my website and IG.

Flower, acrylic on aluminum, 46” x 45” x 20”, 2023

and

Lemon Drops, acrylic on aluminum, 56” x 15” x 10”, 2023

also…

Paisley, acrylic on aluminum, 48” x 48” x 20”, 2023

and

Ladder, acrylic on aluminum, 58” x 30” x 30”

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