Client: Kinzelman Art Consulting

Overview

Brief: to bring to life both during the day and night this entrance way to the new Bridgeland development. Windgrass consists of two site-specific, linear sculptures for this urban development in Houston, TX. The sculptures are identical to each other, providing a vibrant, dramatic presence. Two elements define this work. First, the vast, swaying prairie grass landscape of Texas; and second, the patterns of the landscape design into which Windgrass will integrate in a seemingly natural way.

Goals

The goals were always to reference the landscape of the grasses and integrate it into the fabric of the overall community. Through color, line, form and movement I am referencing this landscape. The power of the image comes alive and becomes a living, breathing work of art. Here I am interested in the place we occupy both psychologically and physically - how we change our landscape and how in turn that landscape changes us.

Windgrass is made of safe, durable, weather-resistant, non-corrosive high-performance composites requiring minimal maintenance and will endure through the generations to come. The movements elegantly describing wind and flexing effortlessly with the breeze. The work is lit at night to create an ethereal and moving pattern. The sound of the reeds as they play and weave against each other describes the sound of waves falling on a beach. The ebb and flow of people arriving and leaving becoming part of the piece. The work complements nature, adopting nature's rhythms in its movement.

Process

As with most of my projects I work very closely with all those who are part of the overall process. Working with designers, engineers and landscape designers, I created a field of movement that would determine the type of landscaping and planting to be integrated into the overall project. We all met on a number of occasions and walked the site to get a greater feel of the vastness of the endeavor. There were a number of drawings developed for this project, but finally understanding the site and the landscape energized the structure of the final sculpture.

Additional Information

Windgrass is a kinetic sculpture consisting of high-performance composites and paint. There are two sculptures, each comprising four groups. Each group measures 8-23 x 20 x 4 ft | 2.5-7 x 6 x 1.3 meters. Just as prairie grasses are in elegant groups, I have created each of these two sculptures in four parts to provide both a lightness and depth as you move around the work.