PIECE SPECIFICATIONS:
Steel, 40" (three spheres)
HOMETOWN:
Waterloo, Iowa
THREE STEEL BALLS, FIVE MISSISSIPPI BOULDERS
An Artist's Statement by Marie Camille Truscott Lentsch
MA THE MEDICINE BALL
This was the first one, female, how is that!?
Gentler, was the smaller one;
The medicine ball, full of wishes, half shiny, half rusty;
Some welds polished, some smooth.
Our eggs are round and there is an internal equator;
Longitudes and latitudes polished off,
Like peeling an orange apart, the segments go together.
When complete, I rolled it everywhere — across campus, up stairs and down, put it in my truck for a drive. It became an entity. I know it sounds silly to do that, but I did. It looked regal on some brick walls. But closer to the earth was best for this ball. Then after awhile, I got an urge to do two . . .
SUN BALL
The second steel ball;
Easier to form, firmer with convictions ping.
Ting into place, tack welded never a pop. Shiny, a companion bright.
I rolled it around, too. Sealed it so tight, it could actually float on water. Maybe it was left on the shore when the ocean changed its mind. The slag from the weld makes a sound inside, a metally tinkling sound, like those baby toys that tinkle when they roll in a zig zag. The second size was actually easier to weld, the gores went together with less force and weren't so spring loaded as the first ball.
They looked cool hanging out in the shop together, a couple! It was funny and fun to see them. Then...that's right, oh my, yes...a third one.
BAMBINI BALL
. . . was the third. How did the third ball get so big? It was just a baby!
How babies are bigger than all reality when they arrive and though they are tiny and precious; their entry and presence is immense.
Well, that is how it should be. And each generation gets bigger, expands larger and heals wider — forward and backward.
Look what we created!
How to be three was now the new form.
Where would they go and how did they fit? Compassion becomes curious.
Then I saw them amidst some large rocks, nestled in, as you see them now.
Generous memories in Mississippi boulders, solidified compassion that was once sand, from a river shore mingling nearing the ocean. The estuary of evolution — sourced.
Someone there found them for me, to complete this piece. That was nice, who was that, there are five of them and they did appear for Tara Firma to be placed amongst. Thank you to whoever did that!
TARA is the Tibetan Goddess of Compassion and Wisdom. TERRA FIRMA is solid Earth. TARA FIRMA is the family of solid compassion on Earth; set firm and tucked in with some other gifts of the Earth. Shiny bright, modern made, in complimentary contrast to solid stone of an earth from another time remembered, both together, like family, isn't it?
