Driftwood Dancer ... the Completed Sculpture

Driftwood Dancer ... 17" h

    The Driftwood Dancer sculpture that I wrote about in my previous blog entry (7/19/14) has been completed. Prior to doing the surface finish work I increased the depth of the undercuts that I had made beneath the curved top of the board that the figure was to be mounted on. I did this in order to enhance the  feeling of elevation and lightness in the piece. After lightly staining the underside of the board with Minwax Provincial wood stain to match it with the top surface, I sealed the board with a light coat of satin polyurethane. I also coated the trapezium shaped piece of wenge and the round disk of walnut with satin poly. I then used wood glue and screws to attach the curved baseboard to the pieces of wenge and the walnut disk.

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     The next step was to complete the finish work on the figure itself...refining the shaping of the outstretched leg, the raised arm, the back and the head and then sanding with fine grit sandpaper on the surfaces that were not left in their natural state. The final step after sealing the figure with polyurethane was to epoxy the figure to the the base. I used a toothpick to deposit some 5-minute epoxy into the hole in the bottom of the supporting leg. Then I also lightly coated the wooden peg coming out of the top of the shoe on the baseboard with epoxy. Finally I slid the leg onto the peg and positioned the figure at angle just a little off parallel to the direction of the baseboard and held it in place until the bond was secure - and it was finished!
      This piece is an example of the the work that I do that I like to call complex simplicity. At first glance the form seems to present a relatively simple and straightforward form, but on further inspection it reveals a layering of subtle variations that may not be quite what they seem. This often has to do with proportion, distortion, and occasionally a  bit of misdirection. I also like to think it suggests a story - that the viewer drops in to the middle of and has to determine how it started, where it's going, and how it will end. As for Driftwood dancer - Susan Groce, the juror for "The Maine Story", has decided that DD's story will continue at River Arts Gallery from Aug. 1st - 28th.