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Ceci Cole McInturff
Sweet Old World
Ceci Cole McInturff
Sweet Old World
- Stainless steel, steel wire, grapevine, kozo, sycamore roots, rabbit and raccoon fur, hydrocal, cotton. (mixed organic media interwoven with chain)
- Total sculpture: 15-20’ H x 5.5’, Orb is 5’ round – 35 lbs., Thick grape vine is 15-20’ long – 10 lbs.
- To suspend a maximum total 45 lbs. from the rearmost left corner of Greenhouse ceiling, hanging from its third up-from-ground ceiling cross-juncture. The hanging will be approximately 15-20’ of thick grapevine attached via small steel hardware to the top of a 5’ round stainless steel ball, which hangs approximately 2’ from the ground. Secure small steel attachment hardware connects the grapevine and the ball; 16 gauge steel wire simply wrapped around Greenhouse ceiling cross-juncture will support the hanging piece. No drilling nor perforation nor impact to Greenhouse materials or structure whatsoever is involved.
- These materials should wear well in the elements, the stainless steel ball losing some shine but resisting rust; the grapevine and roots resisting moisture and water well. There will be some sway of the piece, although its corner location limits/protects regarding this.Helpful to generally monitor the area
Suggesting both tension and a necessary co-existence between the organic and the industrial on our planet, this piece is envisioned as a quietly-hanging witness to earth’s state of play.
It will be able to gently sway, though since located in a corner it is unlikely to.
Shiny finished stainless steel with one area suggesting planetary degradation on its lower front quarter materially represents industrial and technological success, with problems looming. Tiny cast human faces wearing blindfolds embedded in thinner roots woven onto on the ball refer to humans’ role in both the success as well as the degradation, and our reticence in dealing with this responsibility.
Locating this piece in so large and historic a structure as the Greenhouse, which was dedicated to cultivating earth’s beauty via plants and flowers, makes sense. Such earthly beauty today remains, and Sweet Old World’s simple testimony asks for how long, reminding us to take care.
Sculptor Ceci Cole McInturff works in non-traditional combinations of plant and animal material, using a minimalist aesthetic with intimate handwork, often conveying an introspective quality. Her work is meant to honor things no longer living and suggest wisdom in applying nature’s cyclical lessons to human culture.
Her works expand the definition of beauty, demonstrate interconnectedness and linked well-being between species, and can imply sacred within the natural.
Founder/owner of the former 87FLORIDA non-profit exhibit and performance space and a member of the Otis Street Arts Project – both in Washington D.C. – she holds an MFA in Art and Visual Technology from George Mason University; completed two years of MA/Art and the Book study at the Corcoran College of Art+Design; is a former executive with the CBS Television Network; and the mother of two sons.