The Exhibitionist Sculpture Lives!
Two years ago I was cc’d by a wonderful friend and patron of the arts in an email she wrote to a number of local sculptors. Odd, I thought as I’m a photographer, not a sculptor. It suggested I should participate in the New Hope Arts Outdoor Sculpture Contest. I’d never even considered making a sculpture. I initially dismissed my inclusion as a mistake, but then I suddenly thought: “Who’s to say I’m not a sculptor? And maybe she’s actually encouraging me to be one!” So I entered, albeit two days late, with a photo entry combining several Photo Luminism ‘characters’, that I titled “Exhibitionist” superimposed onto my idea of the perfect location for it in New Hope, PA. Shockingly, “Exhibitionist” was a popular winner. That was when reality set in. I’d have to build it!
Putting together a photographic mock-up of an imagined sculpture had been easy. Even piecing together a physical maquette from plumbing fittings was a piece of cake, and quite fun. But for the final product, I didn’t have a clue where to start. Should it be glass, plastic or fiberglass? Created in a mold, on a form or 3-D printed? After days of research it came down to fiberglass. But honestly, I didn’t even know what that process meant.
After receiving dizzying quotes just to create the fiberglass structures, I knew there had to be a better, more economical way; the tab was going to be on me at least until I could sell it elsewhere, so a low budget was vital. Besides, and perhaps just as importantly, I wanted to bring my vision to life with my own two hands.
After weeks of fruitless searching my cursor eventually fell on a very interesting looking website: Remarkable Creative Services. Mark Hutzky, the owner specialized in making odd stuff from fiberglass: dinosaurs, trees and statues of liberty. I sent him a note and crossed my fingers. Several days later a hand written letter arrived. He offered to make a sample to see if it was what I was after. A couple of weeks later the sample arrived and it was perfect. The only slight drawback was that Mark lived in Moscow…
Happily not the one in Russia, but the one in the Poconos, PA! Although there’s not a lot of difference. Mark’s house and workshop is a two hour drive to the middle of nowhere and at the top of a very long, steep lane. Nearest hotel: 30 minutes; nearest hardware store: 20 minutes. And they get snow in the Winter. Feet of the stuff. But, he was prepared to act as my mentor and help me construct MY vision. AND he and his wife Ruthie very kindly agreed to let me sleep on their couch, so how could I possibly resist!
After many trials and errors, Mark and I got the first piece completed bar sanding by the end of 2017. Mark then had to finish an order of 14 large munitions shells and several clouds during the upcoming difficult Winter months.
June 11th 2018 we finally got back to work. The problem at this point was that I’d only recently found out that my lovely rental accommodation was going up for sale, and circumstances were leading to a move out of the area. That meant the pressure to get finished was really on.
In these last few weeks, we’ve managed to sand all 6 ft of Exhibitionist character #1, run some light tests, choose the gold iridescent paint, run tests on that and create and totally prepare the forms for the final two characters, one of which is the Exhibitionist arch at 8 1/2ft tall and 6ft
wide. I searched for and found an LED expert, Kevin Darrah of KDCircuits.com who is going to design the system and program the lights per my instructions. A huge weight off my should
ers.
Next up is getting the location set in stone. I’m desperate for my favorite spot in New Hope as I firmly believe that’s where it would be best for the town and the people. Keep your fingers crossed. If you’re friends with anyone involved with the Bridge Street Foundation, please enthuse about the Exhibitionist illuminated sculpture. I firmly believe it would be a fun, contemporary, interactive and popular landmark for this central spot in town.
Thank you! More news as and when 🙂
