"ARBOR WINDS"- Stadium Bridge Public Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
in collaboration with Catherine Widgery
Client: City of Ann Arbor
Photo credits: Will Howcraft, Catherine Widgery
Technique: Laser etched safety glass
DESCRIPTION: "Arbor Winds" evokes not just trees but wind and light as expressions of the energy that surrounds us. In each panel we see the ghostly afterimage as if the wind has blown the tree; we see both moments in time simultaneously. These images etched in glass are like those etched in our memories. We walk through a forest and it is our mental “snapshots” of the branches against the sky or the texture of the thick trunk, or the dense layers of the many trunks silhouetted against the forest underbrush that remain in our memories. Indeed, each of these etched images is more the memory of moments rather than a physical reality: a subtle expression of our own ephemeral existence and the light traces we leave behind.
The Peters Studios introduced me to Isophone, who has one of the largest laser etching facilities in the world. During several visits to their workshop with Jan Peters we were able to refine how the works would look, observing the process in great detail. It is not just the resources at the Peters Studios that are made available, but resources throughout Germany and the U.S. with whom they facilitate contacts.
- Catherine Widgery, Artist