Community Sculpture Walk

The Community Sculpture Walk exhibits sculptures for two years along the Community Path in Watertown, MA.

1

Power Plant by Joe Chirchirillo

Pigmented cast concrete. Created in 2017. On view from May 2023 until 2025.

I am interested in finding architectural order emerging from nature and translating that into sculpture. The form of this piece follows this idea, is it a plant form made of gears or maybe snowflakes? Is it mechanical or organic? This sculpture was created by casting pigmented concrete into wood molds. There is a degree of uncertainty and spontaneity in each casting event. I am very process oriented, and these pieces grow and evolve as I continue to work on them.

More about Joe Chirchirillo on his website:  joechirchirillo.com 

2

Inheritance by Peter Dellert

Catalytic converter covers on welded steel armature. Completed in 2014. On view from May 2023 until 2025

This is the first of two Inheritance sculptures I have done. It uses found, recycled automotive catalytic converter covers or heat shields. They have been riveted to a steel armature. When sunshine enters the top of the sculpture, the red plexiglass eye glows.

More about Peter Dellert on his website:  peterdellert.com 

3

Opposition by James Payne

Wood, metal, and flagstones. Completed in 2022. On view from May 2023 until 2025.

At present, wood is my primary medium for big pieces. I'm drawn towards both nature and technology. This dichotomy inspires my art to model shapes found in nature - curves, edges, and sharp corners. My works over the past several years have been increasing in size and impact. My current focus is on large-scale swirl structures constructed from heavy wood beams. These works expand on themes from my work over the past several years around implying dynamic movement through static wood armature.

More about James Payne on his website:  bxiie.com 

4

Refuge by Linda Hoffman

Bronze, completed in 2020. On view from May 2023 until 2025. Water connects people from distant places all around the globe. Over many years, water in the Charles River may have traveled all the way from the tip of South Africa through the currents of great oceans and in the water-carrying clouds to the coastal waterways, estuaries, and rivers of eastern Massachusetts. In Refuge, the young giraffe and sea turtle, both on the endangered species list, may have traveled from South Africa. Along the way, they have rescued people who may have lost their homes to global warming, wars, or corporate greed. These two animals have provided a way to safety along the oceans and rivers all the way from South Africa to Watertown Center!

More about Linda Hoffman on her website:  lindahoffman.com 

5

Colliding Worlds II by R Douglass Rice

Aluminum, completed in 2021. On view from May 2024 until 2026.

Colliding Worlds is a study of positive and negative space as well as of light and shadow. My abstracted work is preoccupied with an understanding of space, scale, balance, and color. My sculpture sometimes comment on current events and sometimes just celebrate sculpture.

My sculptures begin as a series of small cardboard cutouts. From 4" x 8" pieces of cardboard, I cut out various abstract shapes. Slotting the top of one and the bottom of another, I join them together creating a free-standing cardboard sculpture. Once this is complete, I do the same process with sheets of 3/4" AC plywood, cutting each of the abstract shapes with a jigsaw. I then sand and paint them with high gloss metal paint, so that they looked like they are made of steel. From there I take the full-scale plywood pieces to a metal fabricator who cuts the shapes out of two 4’x8’ sheets of 5/8’ aluminum or steel depending with a water jet. They then finish them in powder coat or with rusted patina.

Learn more about R Douglass Rice on his website:  https://www.rdrart.com/ 

6

ALL STYLE, NO SUBSTANCE by Ken Reker

Mixed media assemblage, completed in 2022. On view from May 2024 until 2026.

Over many years of production, with works that have engaged in polemics & culture, my interest in the natural world and specifically its’ degradation has always been an overriding concern and subject within the work. The work I make is highly eclectic. Beyond my natural inclination to continually ‘make something’, the impetus for doing so, has varied widely. My artistic production and process lies within the genre of assemblage. The process is multifarious and often begins with a response to a found image or an object. Through philosophical inquiry and material investigation, the work is developed through accretion over time in the studio. It is guided by my curiosity and levity throughout the process. Much of this body of work is inextricably linked to both my pedagogical and curatorial practices.

More about Ken Reker on his website:  kenreker.com 

7

Beacon by Michael Alfano

Bronze, completed in 2019. On view from May 2024 until 2026.

In Beacon, a profile of a child’s face represents the flame of a candle. The base of the sculpture forms the stylized candle, and the face rises from it, driving out the darkness with their light, serving as a guiding beacon. Though made of bronze, a hard material, the sculpture is designed to form a light, wispy profile. It is inspired by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

More about Michael Alfano on his website: michaelalfano.com

8

Transparencies in Time: Cuahpohualli by Jose Trejo Maya

Plastic transparency film and plexiglass, completed in 2023. On view from May 2024 until 2026.

I am a remnant of the Nahuatlacah oral tradition, a tonalpouhque mexica, a commoner from the lowlands (i.e., Mexico) from a time and place that no longer exists. At present my poetry has been reified as it has been published in the UK, US, India, Spain, Australia, Argentina, Germany, and Venezuela. Transparencies in Time: Cuahpohualli embedded in ethno-poetic language poetry came from dreams, it’s a refraction of our ancestors so you see a mirror in yourself.

More about Jose Trejo Maya on his website:  mozaikphilanthropy.org/ecosystemx 

Learn more about the Community Sculpture Walk on the Watertown, MA website:  https://www.watertown-ma.gov/816/5211/Community-Sculpture-Walk