SYMBIOSIS, RICK HERZOG
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

Born to a family of scientists, specifically the hard sciences of physics, chemistry and mathematics, Rick Herzog showed no interest in his familial pursuits. “As an artist I do not have the answers, I feel my role is more like an activist. My role is to bring awareness to the society in which we live and to the subjects, objects and ideas that permeate our culture in a subordinate or subversive manner,” Herzog explains. “My current work explores botanical forms, the lack of interaction between man and nature, our disconnection from this environment and the ‘artificalization’ of nature, natural spaces and all things living. These sculptures talk about organization and the chaotic nature within natural and man-made forms. I look at how items are composed and their many parts, then abstract their elements – keeping true to their inherit qualities. Some sculptures are more organic in form as if growing or flowing from group to group, mimicking ivy or spring flowers sprouting here and there.”

STARGAZER, RAY KATZ
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

A Detroit, Michigan native, Ray Katz is an internationally-known sculptor and a veteran of outdoor installations. Stargazer marks the third time Katz has shown in the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden and his pieces always deliver bold, open geometric offerings. “[This piece] is a celestial experience, visually. It’s almost like something is floating in space, and that was my primary interest in developing the celestial quality, even spirituality, endowed in the piece. I have been fascinated with the celestial theme and its bearing on the growth in our lives, with respect to the things we address ourselves to.”

SPROUT, BEN PIERCE
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

Returning for his second installation inside the Garden, Ben Pierce is presenting Sprout, an abstracted form of a seedling or plant, as the first piece in an eventual series focused on growth. Having experienced his own personal growth by transitioning to full-time artist since his last visit to the MS Delta two years ago, Pierce is invigorated by his new freedom and seeks to challenge himself with the creation of each new sculpture. “I want to learn something new with each piece and I want to constantly evolve as an artist. I think by minimizing the outside distractions and minimizing the materials I’m using, I’m left focused on the design. I think there is a great challenge in keeping things simple. When there are less things to distract you and less things to look at, what you are left with is the pure design element of it and the craftsmanship,” he explains. Sprout also marks the first and only time Pierce has powder-coated a piece. “Over the neon green color, I added a clear sparkle coat and it adds an element of glow during the dusk and dawn.”

THE ARRANGEMENT OF THREE CIRCLES, BEN PIERCE
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

With the inclusion of The Arrangement of Three Circles into this year’s Competition Class, The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden welcomes its first-ever kinetic sculpture to Delta State University’s campus. The sculpture is named quite accurately, as Missouri-based sculptor, Ben Pierce explains, “It is, literally, three circles cut up and rearranged, but in the process, reinvented as a shape that doesn’t read like a circle.” As for the kinetic aspect, Pierce continues, “I have always believed public art should be interactive, whether that means how you walk through, touch it, knock on it to see what it is made of…Kinetic art allows you to take that to the next level. You can push the piece, stand on the piece, ride the piece. It allows you to shift your perspective and see the piece from so many more angles. I love that challenge.”

SKY SENTINEL, MARK DICKSON
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

Standing nearly 10ft. tall, Sky Sentinel is a first for Tallahassee-based sculptor, Mark Dickson. “Sky Sentinel is a stainless steel piece, and this is really the first time I’ve worked this big in this material. Stainless steel is such a wonderful and interesting material to work in,” he explains. “It has such an innate beauty, if it is done right.” A figurative piece, Dickson attempted to marry the human form to the machine in Sky Sentinel. “I wanted to interpret this idea of bioengineering – a machine with a soul, with almost this angelic form,” he continues. “There is something really powerful to that form.”

THE WANDERING WALL OF STRANGE IDEAS, MARK DICKSON
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

A first-time exhibitor inside the Garden, Mark Dickson showed previously as part of the inaugural Competition Class at the GRAMMY® Museum Mississippi with Guitar Man, a piece that was purchased for the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden Permanent Collection. Dickson returns this year with two offerings, the first being The Wandering Wall of Strange Ideas. A magnetic, charismatic piece, Dickson ranks this work as his favorite production to date. “It’s my storyteller and it seems everyone that sees it, experiences it, engages with it, is drawn to it – whether it be because they’re envisioning a window, a door, a gate; a portal of some sort. It’s transporting and for me, it’s therapeutic to be free to just create something, anything and these 15 little vignettes allowed me just that opportunity. It was so freeing to just go and create and see what happens with these wonderful materials.”

ADRIFT II, DURANT THOMPSON
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden

An Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi, Durant Thompson returns to the campus collection, having originally debuted his work in Competition Class IV. His latest submission, Adrift II, marks the first time the three boat-like pieces are being shown collectively and he is thrilled with its presentation. Additionally, it stands as the inaugural presentation of Thompson’s work with color, having painted this trio a monochromatic blue. “Originally, this piece wasn’t a conceptualized piece. The entire thing was created from what we call drop, or the metal left behind from cutting other pieces. Those curves were just lying there, and I saw this flash of inspiration and went from there; the pieces told me what they wanted to be,” Thompson explains. “Visually, I wanted the piece to reflect calm, the calmness you can feel when out there on the water.”

FLIGHT, MATT MILLER
Downtown Cleveland, Mississippi

Hoping to capture the chaotic fervor with which a violinist plays his/her instrument, Matt Miller used mild steel to bring forth the worn patina aesthetic and stainless steel for “pops” of emphasis and impact in his 15ft creation, Flight. “I knew instantly what I wanted to do and my sketch for the piece was more so a grocery list of supplies,” he explains. “I wanted it to look like it was breaking apart or bowing into pieces because of that energy and command a musician has in playing this instrument. There is physicality in that delivery of music and sound, and there is physicality in my creation of this piece, in my work as a sculptor. I think there a lot of finish details that I would encourage the audience to notice and even think about their creation. Just slow down and let the piece speak to you. Find your connection to the piece.”

SUNBURST, HANNA JUBRAN
Downtown Cleveland, Mississippi

Hanna Jubran is a Palestinian Arab Israeli sculptor, born in Jish, the upper Galilee, now residing in Grimesland, North Carolina. As a child in the mountains of Jish, he vividly remembers the “sun bursting over the mountains against the stark blue sky” and that precious childhood memory of his homeland serves as inspiration for his newest installation. Jubran’s work is expansive and his long, successful career has been marked with consistent themes. “My work addresses the concepts of time, movement, balance and space,” he explains. “I want each sculpture I create to occupy and create its own reality influenced by its immediate surroundings. I do not rely on one media to evoke the intended response. Instead, I take advantage of compatible materials such as wood, granite, iron, or – as in this case with Sunburst – steel and bronze.”

BROKEN ARROW, LAWSON KING
Downtown Cleveland, Mississippi

A native of the Mississippi Delta, Lawson King is a newcomer to the world of sculpture and public art; but his debut piece is both emotionally riveting and deeply personal. As a junior art major at Delta State University in 2015, King, like the entire collective campus, was shook by the murder of beloved Professor Ethan Schmidt on September 14. “I lost my father at a young age to the hands of gun violence and when that happened on campus, when we were locked down, unsure of what was happening, I knew I was scared and that brought back a lot of emotion. Creating Broken Arrow was my way of paying tribute to Dr. Schmidt and his love of Native American history, but I think it was also a reaction to that emotion. It was how I processed and, as I’ve continued to talk to people about this piece, I’m learning my art is helping to heal. It’s a salve to our campus community, Cleveland; and that is powerful and also extremely humbling,” King shares.

SAX RIFF, JAMES DAVIS
The GRAMMY® Museum Mississippi

Exhibiting for his second time at the GRAMMY® Museum Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi native James Davis brings his “Jazz Series” back to the site, this time installing Sax Riff. A concept succession that dissects the 2-5-1 progression in jazz music, Davis took a whole note, divided that by eight and shifted, arranged and then rearranged the pieces again to create the dynamic sculptures featured in the series. “I am constantly intrigued to see what happens if you move just one piece, or put this over here or that over there,” Davis explains. “I’m very lucky to be able to build these pieces and make public art. I will always be happy pulling down a welding mask and looking a bright light. It’s what I was meant to do.”