Renewal

Hi, this is Jan R Carson and I created the suspended sculpture titled “Renewal.”

I finished this piece around the time that my mother died earlier this year. In just a few months, her health had declined rapidly, so she’d been on my mind. And I have to admit I think a lot about death, and my work is often about cycles of nature, transformations through time, and the emotional impact of these things.

This piece was also a return to creating larger structures in kinetic sculpture. I make small mobiles for a living, but it’s been years since I’ve designed an original work out of the joy of that practice.

So I think the title “Renewal” points to two things: it’s a hopeful expression of my mothers passing, and a celebration of my return to creating original sculpture for me.

The formal delicacy of my work stems from the materials I use – silk and fine gauge stainless steel wire. I come from a background in sewing, so working with fabric is comfortable to me. The wire I use has strength but is also responsive to the slightest force. Since much of my work comments on the fragility of nature, these materials are obvious choices.

I would hope that the viewer would perhaps unconsciously register these things about my piece, and come away with a sense of awe at the beauty of its delicacy, as you would any fleeting aspect of nature.