Flying Blue Bikes is in the I Series, which is basically the notion of fashioning a cube and cutting it apart into two halves, which are then put back together in a deconstructed way. My intention is to take a fairly simple shape and give it a complexity that belies a dynamic sculpture. First I create the interior cube, which is composed of leaded and non leaded optical crystal as well as dichroic coated glasses and a purple solid dichroic glass. The sections are cut and recut until they are visually separated to my satisfaction. Clear sections are added until it becomes a cube within a cube. It is then ground and polished on all six sides and then cut in half. I use optical elements as a bridge between the two halves. The sculpture can then stand on it’s own. I grind and polish the standing points and then adhere the piece to a piece of optical plate glass which sits inside the recessed top of the spinning anodized aluminum base. It measures 10x10x9.
The idea is to use the geometry of the interior coloration and multiply the purity of the colors and the energy that they provide. The narrative for this piece would be clarity, color, and playfulness, put together in an abstract, deconstructed way and balanced in an unlikely position while it can spin and move. The bicycle theme interests me because I’ve always loved being on a bike, it’s a universal, self-motivated means of transportation, and my son-in-law Allan Cooke has been a professional BMX champion and works at Santa Cruz Bikes. It’s a thing of movement, change, and fun.
