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The Nature of Water sculptures are landscapes distilled to the essence of water and stone.
They speak of our essential connection to water, how water connects us to each other and to all life.
Available individually or in groups of four, unified by the named theme.
Each measures 14.25 x14.25 x 2.5 inches
To order and pricing information contact: pmg@gracewood,com
Artist’s Statement
Water has always been my refuge and solace.
It is now my inspiration.
I grew up near the Pacific Ocean and swam competitively for ten years. I’ve plunged into the warm waters of Hawaii, Micronesia and Bali. I watch water patterns even in the city. It flows over geometric surfaces to become tiny falls and rivers roiling down the gutters.
It's a challenge for sculpture to capture the nature of water.
Water has no inherent shape of its own. It is constantly changing. The beauty of bronze is that it is timeless, permanent. My goal is to distill a vast landscape to its essence of water and stone, movement and stillness.
My most important research is to be immersed in water, bringing the movements of water back into my body. The physical sensations and understanding guide my hands in sculpting these reliefs. The sculptures are all modeled by hand. Composing a tiny beach, creating every nuance of water, broken shell and rock allows each landscape to emerge as a whole, complete. Just as land emerges from receding waters. Working in the studio feels as if I am conjuring the earth into being.
One of my favorite things about making these reliefs is very contradictory. Seemingly random arrangements of water and pebbles are carefully composed for their qualities of light and dark. and the emotions that those relationships evoke. Each quartet explores a terrain both physical and psychological. Creating the right combination of spontaneity and design can drive me crazy, but also makes me happy, because isn't that what we see in nature? Chance and perfect order.
Sketches for new sculpture fill my drawing books. New ideas keep coming. Water is a living thread connecting everything. The Nature of Water sculptures speak about our essential connection to water, its relevance to our history, our present and our future. Water connects us to each other and to all life.That is a deep well of inspiration.
I hope this work brings you pleasure.
Patrick Gracewood
One Day Quartet - Dawn, Noon, Dusk, Midnight
Journey Quartet - Wave, Pool, Stream, Falls
Desert Quartet - Overnight Sensation, Mirage, Gone by Afternoon, Oasis
Afternoon Eternity
The first of a quartet about water and time.
First Wave
28.5 x 10.25 x 2 inches
North Shore
28.5 x 10.25 x 2 inches
The Nature of Water
Hour of Gold is the piece that began the water series. Measures 27.5 x 43 x1.5 inches.
John Cage once said “you can fool the fans, but not the players”.
Such words come to mind when viewing Patrick Gracewood’s sculpture exhibited at Bella Perla Gallery. Cage’s remarks were in reference to the necessity of work being the vehicle that ultimately defines and refines talent, such effort is immediately recognizable by fellow experts in any given field (in this case, artists, specifically sculptors). It may be easy to fool those with less discerning eyes who are not aficionados, but when an artist has truly ‘arrived’ at a certain level of discipline and sensitivity (not to mention, having started with a heavy dose of native talent in the first place), those ‘in the know’ can only stand back in appreciative awe, nod their heads, and be grateful that someone took the time to produce such extraordinary, exquisite works.
The works themselves are bas reliefs of water, captured in painted gypsum and bronze. Mr. Gracewood has studied water in a way that most of us would never consider: how does water look at midnight? At noon? In the morning? Gentle variations of colors, ripples actually captured in solid three dimensional form, flowing over and around striations on the surface of perfectly rendered river beds or ocean floors: these are the content of the sculptures. To capture a substance that is fluid and transient is difficult enough, but to capture water so accurately, in so many variations enters the region of the sublime.
Mr. Gracewood has spent much time in and around water, recreationally, and also as a competitive swimmer. His artistic renderings of water are complementary to research being conducted on the various properties of water. For those who have stood at water’s edge and felt a certain pull, however, the beauty of the pieces will need no research to enhance the enjoyment experienced while viewing these pieces. -J. Martin
