Now that I’m back in Boston I’m focusing on the museums, artists, and groups around me as I’m sure you can tell a little. One museum that has several Pokate-bound artists in its sculpture park is the DeCordova Museum, outside of the city in Lincoln. One amazing sculptor on display out there is Tom Chapin, who works from small to large scale and mostly in metals but also wood and granite too I believe.
Can you say amoebic mini-yurt? Well, that might be a little weird to say aloud for some! But this piece in particular had resonance for me when I spent so much time thinking about the shape of a yurt.
The above work, Cloud, I like because it is so top heavy. I can’t image that was easy to find a base for but it’s great to try to convey metal as weightless — the smooth edges I really like.
Above is called, The System and the Hive, which I have to say also appeals to the repetitive artist in me. This is rosewood and stone and, while it reminds me of the Jonathan Adler vase covered in breasts, it moreso has biological, amorphous, insect-like qualities.
Selfishly I love this one because it looks like a piece I needfelted before Christmas — while this could easily be related to the hive concept that Tom’s exploring in a lot of his work I’m choosing to see it as the inside slice of a fruit. To be honest though each “panel” does look suspiciously like an insects wing or a honeycomb — my other favorite things.
Why I love this should be evident at this point. For context, Tom was born in Buffalo, NY in 1954 and worked for a while as a carpenter in New England. He became a sculptor at 33 — pretty inspiring if you ask me.
Stop — too amazing for words. He calls it Apartment Complex. Think about that, and then shake off the invisible bugs that you think are on you — thank goodness I don’t live in New York anymore or I would certainly think there was a cockroach somewhere nearby!
Tags: metal, nature, sculpture