Supplemental Text for Sculpture "Intent to Act No.1"

 

 

Intent to act No.1 - 2021

Whilest drawing, I am sitting at the desk (for optimum posture) or in the park or coffee shop inviting inspiration—the success of which is directly dependent on the quality of the mental state—and working within certain structural limitations. A given group of sketches may consist of forms following a variety of directions but are nevertheless related through proximity of time and therefore memory, and due to their parts being of potential relevance to a future consummation, a future form. It is from memory, whether subconscious or conscious, wherefrom the ideas emerge. The ideas come in fragments and my conscious mind along with my pencil is piecing them together in coherent ways. The more the intent to make the forms structurally sound is at the forefront of the mind, the more it interferes with the free flowing exploration. I propose that this free flowing exploration which uses memories for content is fueled by Nature's force which is beyond the body. An indication for the truth of this statment can be found in the fact that the more the mind is occupied with some trivial or practical matter, the less space it has to allow for this extracorporeal energy to flow through it.

In the case of the present piece, Intent to Act No.1, the form emerged on paper and I was intent on making it. However, only after contemplating the name for the piece, did the complete relevance or meaning of the form reveal itself to me. This order of events indicates the significance of the subconscious process of development on paper, in that unless I allow for this Natural energy to flow through, the discovery of an inspired form may not occur. And when an inspired form does appear, it requires another step for me to fully understand it. The title of this piece was inspired by the variety of directional motions involved in this piece and their subtle yet specific relationships toward one another. Further explanation would get complicated so allow a poem to express the meaning at the core level.

The hesitation was there;
The human mind, so complex——

The immediate action
Of the crow or the king fisher——

The greater intervention, however,
Does impart a purifying stream
To trickle through the mind's
Valleys——

The clean stab into water,
The fish firmly clenched,
The bird alike dripping heavily——

Inspired we are to Act,
So swift in movement,
Involved completely
With place and others—

Carrying with our motion,
An opening, an absence,
Neither dictating intent,
Nor sleeping, but awake,
Totally—

The stillness of a sculpture,
The silent motion therein,
Human abstraction,
Metaphorical expression—

In contemplation,
The abstract reflects
The omnipresent truth,
The never flinching
Fire.