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Location: NUVO, Anthem Properties,
Burnaby, British Columbia

 

Material: Bronze and Dichroic Laminated Glass

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Reflection is a bronze sculptures based on iconic hand gestures.
We are already well into the 21st century. The future is here. Technology is advancing rapidly and we rely on global data network to shape our community. We depend on mobile devices to organize our lives within this community: to socialize, communicate, and operate. I wonder how our behaviors and habits have altered in this new world.

 

In my work Summer 2005, I collected pictures of people taking pictures for an entire summer, questioning the relationship between subjects and objects. Around this time, the digital camera was becoming popular. With the use of a small monitor on the camera, I began to notice that the relationship between self and the camera had shifted dramatically. Suddenly, there was a distance between the eyes and camera, highlighting the shape of the photographer’s hands. I thought these hands were very beautiful. There was a sense of void in those hands. They were no longer carefully crafted to match the photographer’s character, rather somewhat unconscious. The photographer focused on the camera, letting the hands do whatever worked.

In 2020 , the compact digital camera has become much less popular, almost invisible on the street today. We now use mobile smart phones with much larger screens to do everything. It has become the most important device in the formation of our social circle and our online self-image.
When front facing cameras were added to smart phones around 2010, taking self-portraits suddenly became very popular and the word ‘selfie’ was added to the dictionary. Today we like to capture images of our daily self-existence and post them on social media to share with our friends.

I am proposing to make a bronze sculpture in the form of hands holding a smart phone, caught in gestures of taking selfies : A single hand holding a phone from a distance to take a self-image using the front camera. I feel these hands capture the time we live in. These represent an
unconscious part of our mind, yet they are one of the most symbolic gestures today.

These sculptures capture a snapshot of our current lives. With the current rate of technological advance, I expect the relationship between camera and user to change again in the very near future. The idea of a “Portrait of Modern Life” heavily influenced many art movements and
artists since the late 19th century. Many artists have rendered important and mundane moments in all forms or art. I hope that these sculptures portray a glimpse into this fast-changing world, standing in public to commemorate our time.

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Photography by Carvel Creative

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Project Details

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This amazing sculpture was based on a casting and digital scan of the artists hand and forearm.

The scan was then re-sculpted and posed using these reference materials to allow for the fit up of the laminated glass panels to the fingers, thumbs and palm of the hand. The digital sculpture was then, sent to our 5 Axis CNC machine and our 3D printing farm. Once cut and printed the parts were assembled over a temporary steel frame and finished sculpted, coated and sealed for its trip to the Steve Harmen Foundry for molding and casting in bronze. The artist selected a beautiful verdigris patination and the glass panels where then attached.

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