​RECENT Work From OMOS Studios

​homage to my mentor and friend, david stromeyer (2024)

TITLE:   Homage to My Mentor and Friend, David Stromeyer (2024)
MATERIALS: Steel, brass ball, wood base
DIMENSIONS:  54"H x 22"W x 14" D 
DESCRIPTION: When we last visited David and Sarah Stromeyer in the Summer of 2023, David offhandedly told me to take what scrap cutoffs he had piled up on the side of his studio. I loaded a dozen pieces into the car and that was that. We visit the Stromeyers every summer (for over 35 years) to catch up on life, share some meals and laughs and for me, to hang out with David  to see what he's working on in his studio and to walk the fields taking in the new sculpture and visiting the others who have by now become old friends (it's now the Cold Hollow Sculpture Park in Enosburg, VT).

David is a renowned sculptor who has been making sculpture and creating a sculpture park for over 50 years. He has been a mentor and friend to me for decades and has been a source of encouragement and inspiration as I eventually found a way to start making sculpture. Yes, we talked 'shop'-a lot- but for me it was more about being around him, listening to him describe his process, observing his work ethic and seeing his attentiveness to every detail. And putting up with my deluge of questions!! David's wife, Sarah, has been such a blessing for me to know, independent of David, because of her wisdom and love and her unsparing embrace of our family and all the visitors we bring to the scupture park. The main ingredient for this new sculpture of mine is love, for both of them.

I decided to take these scraps of steel, cutoffs from sculptures David had made and now on display and not alter their shapes except where absolutely necessary (for structual reasons) so they retained the essence of David's handiwork. I didn't clean up the edges and imperfections int he steel in order to keep their look original. I added my personal touch at the top, including the brass ball and cutting out the 'fish tale' on the top piece. This is my way of saying 'you guided me and showed me how you create so I could create. And now I'm creating.' 

creating a garden gate

While visiting a friend this summer, I ventured into his lush and bountiful garden to have a look. We examined all the vegetables and picked some for dinner. Then I said to him,'You know what's missing here? A garden gate. Would you like me to make one?'  Without hesitation he said, 'Sure.'  What you see below is the finished product.  It's 34" wide by 40" high. I thought the spider and spider web theme was perfect for the garden entry. We'll install the gate in Spring 2024. 

STUDIO WITHOUT WALLS (SWW) SHOW 2023
​ENIGMA VARIATION IN FIVE PARTS

The 24th Annual Studio Without Walls Show  was on display during the summer months 2023 in the Riverway Park, Brookline MA.  My installation included five smaller sculptures hanging from the trees in the park. See my description of the sculpture below the photos. 

TITLE:   Enigma Variation in Five Parts

​MATERIALS: Wood, steel-plate, square bar and rod, steel wire mesh, plastic birds, cast plastic hands, handsaw, acrylic sheet, household objects, Victor rat traps, picture frames, mirror glass

DIMENSIONS: (1)Bird in the Hand   36”L x 22”W x 17”D; (2)Keyhole  44”L x 20”W x 17”D; (3)Victor Rat Trapped 41”L x 41”W x 4”D ; (4)The Conversation 32”L x 21”W x 19”D; (5) Fractured Family Mirror  40"L x 20"W x 10"D
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DESCRIPTION: Why is it that the W-hole is more than the sum of the P-arts? What are the secret ingredients that make this so? We accept this kind of statement as though it was an immutable law of the creative process. Is the whole more than the sum because: of the artist’s creative genius or the viewer’s emotions or the synergy of mystery, inspiration and wonder that only a work of art can create? Teasing out what this ‘magic sauce’ is can be elusive, but that said, it offered me an opportunity to consider how the SWW show’s theme- the W-hole is more than the sum of its P-arts could be operation-alized for you, the viewer. 
 
I’ve been feeling out of sorts and fragile for a while now, disconnected from those things in my life that have always given me a sense of security, emotional well-being, peace, and tranquility. Enigma Variations in Five Parts is my response to the emotional turbulence I’ve been experiencing which, I might add, has impacted my physical and emotional health.
 
I had originally planned to work on one large sculpture, but given the 2023 SWW theme, I decided to reinvent my ‘big sculpture’ idea and make five smaller ones instead, displayed in proximity to each other.  The thematic focus for each is the same: using sculpture to express my emotional turbulence. My question to you, the viewer, is: how does your experience of this installation change when you consider each sculpture individually and then consider them all as a whole? Each sculpture takes familiar objects and displays them in ways that can feel disquieting, perhaps arbitrary, and even absurd. How is it for you to look at one sculpture and then the others? Does the installation draw you into the disquiet and ennui I’m feeling about life, or do you feel too overwhelmed and just shut down? 
 
Please-take your time. Don’t rush by. 

Watch a video of this installation narrated by the artist (4:15 minutes)

         REFURBISHING A  
             SCULPTURE
TITLE: Tahara (Purification)
DIMENSIONS:  36” h x 22” w x 32”d (2015 and 2022)
MATERIALS: flat steel stock; square and round rod

I  volunteer for a Jewish organization that prepares the dead for burial. Called a hevra kadisha (holy society), a team of five participates in a thousands year old purification ritual called tahara (meaning purification in Hebrew). We wash and dress the deceased and then place the body in a coffin. After my first tahara in 2013, I had a dream about this sculpture. It's stylized coffin with two rising elements on either end- one represents the body as it leaves the animate world and the other represents the departure of the soul as it ascends to some unbeknown realm. 

​After seven years of being exposed to the weather in New England, my friend who displayed this sculpture in his backyard asked me to refurbish  it. I discovered that after eight years of performing taharot, my understanding of the soul had changed. I have come to believe that God  reclaims a small bit of our soul when we die, while the remainder goes to some repository to be reused? reconfigured? reimagined? reunited?  I decided to include an additional feature to the 'soul' end of the sculpture to reflect my belief in this bifurcation of the soul. See photos of the original sculpture and the new iteration.                                     

Tahara 2022

Tahara (original sculpture) 2015

Title: Reflections on the Thirteen Acts
                         of Creation
Dimensions:   108”H X 77”W X 20”D (2019)

Materials: PLATE STEEL; ROUND AND SQUARE STEEL RODS; PROPELLER BLADE; BRASS DISCS; STAINLESS BOLTS
​
Description: A creation myth is a cultural universal. Every society spins an elaborate tale about its origins. The Judeo-Christian biblical origin story (Old/New Testament) assumes a priori that God (with a capital G) exists, and it is this God that initiates the grand design we call our world. At first, this undifferentiated nothingness contracts in three different dimensions to make room for the natural world: darkness and light; the heavens and earth; water and dry land. 
 
Then we see singular acts of creation-vegetation that depends on the cyclical majesty of day and night; living creatures-fish, birds, reptiles, mammals-find a receptive, hospitable environment to reproduce and fertilize the world; than humans find a place amongst this fecundity. Each step of creation builds on its previous creation event to set up conditions necessary for the next step to take place.  And so it goes.

Now the natural world has been created in all its grandeur. What remains to be done? One final act of creation remains-a momentary pause in the unending maelstrom of the universe; an ephemeral respite to consider the awesome power of the creator God.
                             Darkness-Light-Heavens-Earth-Water-Dry Land-Vegetation-Nighttime-Daytime     
                                     Living Creatures (birds/fish)-Mammals/Reptiles-Humans-Day of Rest  
Whatever creation myth you embrace, we stand in wonder of this natural world. 

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  Monk's 'Round Midnight' Redux

Thelonius Monk 'Round Midnight' 2020

Thelonius Monk 'Round Midnight' 2016

​This piece, reimagined in 2020, is a tribute to Thelonius
Monk's classic tune, Round Midnight. I made the original
in 2016 (see below) and sold it to friends during Jamaica
Plain Open Studios. Truth be told, I never liked it. In 2020,
I asked them if I could have it back to remake it. They
​agreed! Here is the reimagined piece (see top).

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                     The Orchard (Pardis): A Series of Trees
                               in the Garden of Eden

• Tree of Truth
• Tree of Souls
• Tree of Secrets​

Dedicated to:

• Robert Kaim; Rabbi Neal Gold; Bernie Gredler

Dimensions:   110”h x 65”w x 41”d (2021)
​Materials: plate steel; round and square steel rods; steel pipe; stainless bolts;
Description: Enter The Orchard (Pardes) in the Garden of Eden and you sense there is something unique and startling here. The Orchard contains fruit-bearing trees, but trees of a different sort. You won’t find apples, pears, plums or bananas. You will find the kind of fruit that supplies us with a different kind of nourishment- the essential values for living. It is the very values that guide our day to day lives like Truth, Trust, Patience, Humility and Passion. 
 
These values and so many others serve as our signposts and guideposts. And yes, we find all of them in The Orchard.  Some of these luscious trees are in full bloom now and stand close to the majestic entrance. Others are harder to find and identify, and we need to search with intention and purpose to find them. But they are all there.
 
Trees are the perfect miracle of nature to be the keepers of these values in the Garden of Eden. There they are-straight and tall- reaching to the heavens. Their roots descend into the rich, verdant soil seeking sustenance and stability, making certain they provide a firm foundation on which to grow. Then, there is the canopy of leaves that offers shelter and beauty and absorbs the toxins in our world. Miraculously, these toxins become life-sustaining oxygen. 
 
The trees in The Orchard offer each of us this lesson: stay grounded and focused. Then reach for the heavens in how you choose to live and engage with the natural world and all its creatures.  The trees command us: "Take in the toxins you see around you and convert them into something that is precious and life-sustaining."  You can do this all by eating the abundant fruit in The Orchard.
 
 

                        Self-Portrait 
DIMENSIONS:   45”l x 36”w x 17”h (2020)
MATERIALS:  Steel rod & flat stock' metal grating,electrical & computer cables and connectors
Our hands tell all kinds of story about us-the work we’ve done, the things we’ve created, the love we’ve offered, the pain we’ve inflicted and the anguish we’ve felt. So, when it was my time to make my self-portrait, I always knew I would use my hands and not my face (good choice!). 

Our hands serve us as the perfect nexus point between our heart-mind-soul and what we create in the physical world. As a sculptor, my hands are everything to me-they make what I do possible. As a lefty, my right brain controls my creative and imaginative activity. I have to trust that with sufficient training and discipline, the right brain will guide my left hand in unexpected, even fanciful ways. The operative word here is trust.
​
Then there’s my left brain that controls the activities of my practical, task-oriented and organized right hand. It’s mission-driven and expects results. I need this right hand too so I can plow ahead, get stuff done and push myself ahead. That’s why I chose to make each hand look different simply because each serves a unique, albeit indispensable function. Ultimately, 

Self-Portrait-Left Hand Detail

                   MY SCULPTURE AT THE 2020
                 STUDIO WITHOUT WALLS SHOW
                RIVERWAY PARK, BROOKLINE, MA
                     JUNE-september 2020
     

Title:         YET ANOTHER SUNRISE...TOMORROW (2020)

Dimensions:                    68”w x 74”h x 6”d

​Materials:      Plate Steel, Round and Square Steel Rod
 
Description: Our universe is one miracle on top of another. We often take this daily precision for granted.  As our world suffers from the ravages of climate change, we become more keenly aware of the fragile preciousness of planet Earth. We expect the sun to rise and its warmth to renew our day.  We anticipate brilliant sunsets to end our day. And yet…

               sculpture at the 2019 
                  studio without walls show
                riverway park, brookline, ma
                             May-June 2019
     

                 MONUMENT TO LOST GLOVES (2019)
          In Memory of Steve Schwartz and arry Claycomb
Dimensions: 108"h x 96"w x 18"d
Materials:  steel plate, pipe and rod; assorted found gloves 
​Description: All of these gloves are found objects I collected over the last few years from the local parks, sidewalks and schools while walking around Jamaica Plain or enjoying the tranquility of Jamaica Pond or the Arnold Arboretum. Collecting lost gloves has become a regular part of my wintertime activity. They are a ubiquitous characteristic of the city’s winter landscape. I often miss a lot of the winter’s beauty because I’m constantly checking the ground for lost gloves. 
 
When I pick up a lost glove, I feel a sense of regret that I’m denying this glove the possibility of reuniting with its twin. Gloves are created as a pair. Isn’t a single glove found on the sidewalk the ultimate expression of loss and loneliness?
 
A relationship with a close friend feels like being part of a pair of gloves. Our time together can feel magical, a special type of connective tissue holding us in place. And like a lost glove, friendships cease through death, distance or disinterest. 
 
I lost two dear friends in the last few years- Steve Schwartz and Barry Claycomb. Steve (who died in 2016) and I shared a mutual love of jazz. Over the years, we cultivated a loving and supportive relationship, the absence of which continues to be difficult for me. Barry died in early 2019 and our friendship goes back over 30 years. I’ve dedicated this piece to Steve and Barry’s memory.

The Monument was installed at the Studio Without Walls show in 2019 in Brookline MA.

Installing the Monument in 2021 at The Mount-Edith Wharton Homestead in Lenox, MA as part of the Sculpture Now! show.

A news article in the Brookline Tab about the 2019 Studio Without Walls show in Brookline MA.

​

                GUARDIAN OF MEMORIES 
​                         (2017) 

This sculpture is organized around a unique theme: tell me a story that you have never revealed to anyone. What secrets have you decided are yours alone? 

​The identity of the storyteller remains anony-mous. The story could be fact or fiction. No one really knows. We all have personal tales in our possession and that impact us in unconscious ways. Some exalt our sense of self and others torment us. I hope this process allows the storyteller to gain some​ release in the telling.

​

​Hot still scape in six colors-
​7th avenue style
stuart davis
museum of fine arts, boston
Dimensions: 45”w x 36”h 

Creating a Sculpture from a MASTERPIECE by renowned american painter stuart davis

                 HOT STILL SCAPE IN 3-D 
             A Sculptural Reflection on the
           Stuart Davis Masterpiece (2019)

Dimensions: 45”w x 36”h (painting); with base 45”w
                          x 86”h x 14”d
Materials: Plate steel, round and square steel rods;
                     wire mesh
​Description: The Stuart Davis painting, Hot Still Scape in Six Colors-7th Avenue Style (1940), at the Museum of Fine Arts,* Boston hangs prominently alongside his compatriots Arthur Dove, John Marin, Marston Hartley and Georgia O’Keefe. The painting is an extraordinary amalgamation of design, abstraction, color and sheer brute energy. 
 
This painting wants to be a sculpture. It cries out for release. The entire painting swirls with a cyclonic flow that gathers more and more energy the longer you stare at it. When you break down the painting into discrete parts, you experience bursts of power from the juxtaposition of color with shape. It’s so full of depth and intensity. The circles, crosses, triangles, and trapezoids work together to create magic.
 
I wanted to create a 3-D version of this painting for some time, an homage to this extraordinary painter. My sculptural interpretation is the same size as the Davis painting. I arbitrarily divided the painting into 16 constituent parts and then copied the painting’s features within each of these 16 constituent parts. 
 
My piece is a sculptural interpretation of Hot Still Scape. It is not intended to be an exact reproduction. I took liberties with some of the painting’s features to reflect my sculptural whimsy. I chose a single-color scheme to call attention to the marvelous sculptural features of Davis’s painting. (see a photo of the Davis painting at the top)
 

                                

​                 DIE MELCHOMEH (THE WAR)
Materials:  Steel pipe, rod and sheet metal (2017)
Dimensions: 60"w x 48"h x 13"d
Description: When you travel to Europe (as we did in 2015) to visit the death camps that exterminated millions of Jews and other innocents, strange things happen. Prague and Berlin are cosmopolitan and well managed, perfect for a delightful vacation. Then we entered Thierenstadt and Sachsenhausen and wondered how these terrors could exist side by side with this sophistication and elegance.  I appreciate that Germany today keeps its wartime atrocities front and center and for that, I developed newfound respect. The Czechs (and many other European wartime perpetrators) are another story. For them, it’s let’s erase, sanitize, obliterate and cleanse- as though ‘this thing’ barely happened and hardly made an impact on their collective consciousness.
That’s the point of this piece-Die Melchomeh (The War). It’s impossible to erase the Holocaust from our memory as Jews. I wasn’t directly affected by it but I was truly affected by the savage scar IT left on the Jewish soul. The truth is that all of us are survivors of some past obscenity done to our peoples through endless forms of violence-rape, murder, dislocation, despair, hunger, starvation, and enslavement. These aren’t THINGS that simply pass out of our bodies. They have become part of every sinew in us-generation to generation.
It has been two years since I got the idea for this piece and it has taken me that long to make it. Then a dear friend sent me the memoirs of her friend who was a child of Holocaust survivors. In reading The Butcher’s Daughter by Florence Grende,  my art piece started to take shape. The title for the piece, Die Melchomeh, comes from the book.  Die Melchomeh is a Yiddish word for World War II. But it is much more than that. Here are two excerpts from The Butcher’s Daughter that capture what Die Melchomeh really means.
       Along with Tateh’s rucksack and weapon, Mameh’s photos 
         and Bubbe’s scorched pots, they carried out of the forest a 
         ravenous beast, Die Melchomeh, The War. That beast clung 
         onto their backs throughout their journeys, from Poland to 
         Germany to America, its jaws tearing through to their unseen
         parts. If I could, I would have warned them. I would have said,
         look behind you, shake it off, leave it here deep in the woods,
         or it will consume us all. (page 168)
                                                  
On her visit to the death camp at Majdanek:
       In one barracks’ corner are mounds of blackened shoes, a  
         mountain of leather piled topsy-turvy. With no one in sight, I 
         reach for a child’s shoe, flattened as though depleted of breath, I  
         think of my half sisters murdered not far from here, pocket it,
         leave. I wrap it in a soft cloth; carry it close during the long trip
         home. I’ve reclaimed something stolen, from my family, from me,
         from countless others. One shoe. In its singularity a symbol to me
         of all that was lost.  (page 186)
 
Lest we allow despair to set in, just remember what the
   visionary activist Father Daniel Berrigan once said,
              “Find where you stand; then stand there!"

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