5 & 6.
Siena Gillann Porta
Like a Flash of Lightning in a Summer Cloud
Siena Gillann Porta
Like a Flash of Lightning in a Summer Cloud I
Like a Flash of Lightning in a Summer Cloud II
- Plexiglass, stainless steel, HDPE base
- 52″h x 72″l x 42″d – 275 lbs – each
- The base is of very dense HDPE (high density polyethylene) which weighs approximately 200 lbs. and rests on 2 4×4”’s which are skewered with 4 metal pins into the ground. The attachment of the metal framed acrylic sheet above – appr. 75 lbs.
I have installed this work successfully in other outdoor installations. I have used a perimeter of mulch approximately 4+” all around to prevent contact with mowing machinery. In bright sunlight the grey shadows cast from the cutout red plastic above seem so 3-Dimensional. When it’s overcast the cutout flower shapes are very readable as solid form. Making this installation was about the fun of playing with ideas that have life affirming meaning and the challenge of translating this into three dimensional materials. When placed outdoors this piece is also a slow kinetic sculpture.
Siena Gillann Porta has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad, at galleries and museums, including urban and National Parks, with many installations in New York and the greater metropolitan area. Her work is included in many private and public collections. Porta worked as a Scenic Artist and Lead Scenic Artist through USAL 829, creating work for numerous Broadway productions, Feature films, Prime-time network television, Netflix and The Metropolitan Opera. With an MFA in Sculpture from Penn State she was an Adjunct Professor of Art and Contemporary Art concurrently at STAC, Ramapo Coll. and RCC. Her biography is listed, in Who’s Who in America among others. She has received grants from The New York Foundation for the Arts, The United States Information Agency and The New York State Council on the Arts. Solo exhibitions include 14 Sculptors Gallery, Mercer St., NY and Noho Gallery W.25th St., NY. Porta has been an Artist in Residence at Brisons Veor in Cornwall England and Artist in Residence twice at Varmahlid Haus in Hveragerdi, Iceland. She currently serves as President of the artist’s group 14 Sculptors Inc. Reviews include The NY Times, The Wave, Gallery & Studio Magazine, Newsday, Spotlight Magazine, The New York Art Review and Women Artist’s News. Recent exhibitions include HVMOCA, The Hammond Museum, Amherst College – Hampden Gallery, The Akin Museum, Rockaway National Park, St Peters Church, NY, Highbridge Park, NY, The Howland Center in Beacon, Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, The Zerillo – Marimo Gallery at NYU, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Governors Island, NY.