GEORGE SHERWOOD
American sculptor George Sherwood explores aesthetic systems of space, time, and the dynamic relationships of objects in motion. The choreography of each piece is governed by a set of basic movements, facilitated by an arrangement of aerodynamic surfaces connected by rotational points. His work is usually made of stainless steel, the reflective qualities of which integrate the sculpture into its environment. For his outdoor works, wind speed and direction, shades of light, time of day, precipitation, and seasonal color transform the qualities of light and movement of the sculpture. Recently, Sherwood has been engaged with installations of wall based works for siting indoors, with elements so finely pitched, they respond to the slightest currents of air. The wall works present a shimmering, subtly shifting surface of reflected light and color, animating its surrounding environment. Memory of Zeno, a piece featured at PULSE New York in May, 2013, is the newest work in the wall based sculptural series.
Recent public projects include an installation called Wave Cloud, which features a disc of woven stainless elements hovering above the reflecting pool at the Christian Science Plaza in Boston. The entire disc, which is mounted on tall stem, shifts in the wind; its movement is augmented by the riffling surface of wave-like elements on its surface, which mimic the play of light on water.
Salt Lake City is the site of a public installation of three large-scale works in Sherwood’s Botanica series. They form the centerpiece of an urban plaza, their highly polished stainless tendrils flashing against the clear blue of the Utah dessert sky.
In a departure from the kinetic forms to date, Sherwood has just completed an inventive vertical column of discreet steel elements for the prestigious Dana Farber contemporary art collection. Comprised of three, vertically oriented and gently rotating curvilinear shapes, Sherwood's Everything in Between is suggestive of flowing water, a silvery stream suspended in mid-air. Mounted on a mirror base, the sculpture’s reflected surfaces give the impression of spiraling through the floor below, as well as toward the floor above.
The sculpture’s title is drawn from a quote by the artist:
“Each sculpture is a three-dimensional painting of shifting light, drawing all the colors of the environment, pulling down the sky, drawing up the earth and gathering everything in between. The sculpture in the Stoneham Healing Garden [at Dana Farber] is no exception: quietly, gently stirring the light. It is alive...no beginning and no end, just "Everything in Between".
George Sherwood, an award-winning American sculptor, was born and raised in the coastal town of Fairfield, Connecticut. He now lives and works in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and holds degrees in both art and engineering.
Sherwood’s initial interest in the art of movement began during the 1970′s. Drawn to and inspired by physical theater groups such as Mummenschanz, Pilobolus, and The Celebration Mime Theatre, he developed a theatrical performance consisting of large animated props, sculptures and masks that were manipulated by the performers. After earning an engineering degree in the 1980′s he turned his focus to Concept Development for LEGO Futura the Research and Development arm of LEGO. Working with advanced technologies and as a liason with the MIT Media Lab, he was part of a team that helped developed preliminary concepts leading to the development of Mindstorms and Virtual LEGO construction software. It was during this time that he was introduced to the wind powered sculpture of George Rickey, a pioneer in kinetic sculpture. A growing passion to create his own sculpture led Sherwood to pursue this as a full time career.
Sherwood’s work is in permanent collections, including The Currier Museum, The Dana Farber Cancer Institute 20th and 21stcentury Contemporary Art Collection in Boston, The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, The Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the Contemporary Sculpture Path at Forest Hills Educational Trust. Public projects include the city of Salt Lake City, Utah; The Christian Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire. Solo exhibitions include the Currier Museum, Manchester, NH (2010); Saint Gauden’s National Historic Site in Cornish, NH; The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA (2010); and Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY. In 2007 he was awarded the Lillian Heller Award for Contemporary Art at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.