Stellations
Mark Lajiness - June 2012 Welcome to Stellations Studio. My three-dimensional sculptural work blends re-purposed copper sheeting, tubing and wire, hard- and softwoods, stained glass and (usually re-purposed) objects. I've also been known to take apart vacuum cleaners, toasters, old TVs, etc., and include some of the inside discoveries into my artwork. I sometimes comb auto scrapyards for gears, bits of plastic, and interesting dashboard bits. I enjoy giving a “new existence” to a America’s leftovers. It's sometimes called "upcycling." A “stellation” is a rather obscure geometrical term referring to extending the faces on a geometrical figure. For instance, let’s say you've got a wooden cube; if you sheathe the entire figure in copper wire, along the edges of each face, and pull each of those wires up two inches, right from the center of each, then you’d have a wooden cube within a copper-framed stellation. I’m usually working on a variety of pieces at the same time, but I have a number of common themes: (1) Geometrical Stellations: These figures have a copper geometric frame often based on a octahedron or cube. Sometimes they’ll enclose something made of with wood. Other times, glass will be arranged within the figure with geometric precision. (If you see a piece you like, but want one made with different colors, I can do that.) (2) Chakras: These represent the energy centers within the human body. I begin with a copper ring, and add petals and a center. These look great by a sunny window, perhaps in a meditation room or yoga studio. (3) Birds and Fish: I enjoy playing with archetypal bird and fish shapes. (4) Trophies: You know how some people hang up the heads of creatures they have killed, or mount their bodies? I’ve done something similar in my sculpture, providing a bit of skeletal structure, perhaps a wooden heart, perhaps strips of fur along aluminum sheeting. They generally hang head down. My work prefers to be inside, hung by a sunny window. I have juried into a number of regional art shows including: (1) Monument Square Art Fair, Racine, WI.     |
