SOLAR CHALICE
Perhaps the ultimate metaphor is light itself. In my sculptures as in so much artwork throughout history, it symbolizes visible manifestation of the divine in our world. For example, halos and auras are a nimbus of light which emanates from a person or around an object and are a cross cultural visual cue of power and spirituality.
Because light does not appear to have actual mass, it seems magical, energy removed from having physicality. We see its effect on plants and animals and deep in our hearts have a primal gut reaction of joy to the simple universal human experience of being in sunlight. If God is nature then certainly light is the hub of that wheel. Light enables visual perception; the phenomenon of transparency, and reflectivity sometimes make the medium of glass feel like light itself.
Solar Chalice” is a simple narrative of the rising and setting sun, depicted on the tops of architectural columns which are intended to appear as if they are made of sky. If light could be collected certainly some of the most beautiful colors would be shades of deep egg yolk mixed with cognac and caramelized sugar, the warm fiery tonalities of orange that are seen in the sky at dawn or sunset; here I am trying to suggest that light itself is a precious thing, and might be contained in a chalice like a Holy Grail.
