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A Journey

Norman Epp ’79, Wheat Ridge, Colo.

Forms hinted by broken fragments; shapes hidden beneath natural decay; artifacts that people no longer recognize; rebirthing fresh perceptions from remnants of the past is a fascinating journey of mindfulness.

In solidarity with the Land, I work primarily with Earth’s natural materials. This collaboration in spirit conjures natural forms that are at once figuratively suggestive and reminiscent of Earthly features. Integrating figurative motif with that much more expansive body reflects my inner knowing that Earth and I are aspects of One Being.

Remnant fragments of an Earth-Human symbiosis, various forms of physical, conceptual, psychological and experiential history, fascinate me. I search them out. What we once were, what we are, what we need to be, these cannot be separated. Not remembering our antecedence doesn’t refute the fact that “the quality of our journey is our destination.”

Each sculpture structures fragmentary remembrances, pieces from humanity’s many-faceted physical/psychological/spiritual heritage. They inform conceptual vignettes of being human. In this work I glimpse a series of steppingstones, a dispelling of mists, movement towards sensual perceptual integration of our eons spent together.

Top left: Sipapu (Portal Series), Cherry, Steel, 73” x 28” x 21”; top right: Keeper of the Veil, Soapstone, Steel, 80” x 26” x 16”; bottom left: Survival (Phantom of the Nullarbor Series), Cherry, Steel, 86” x 32” x 24”; bottom right: Gaias’ Lament (Stelai Series), Limestone, Steel, 54” x 36” x 22”