Jon Barlow HUDSON

Artist Statement

I have been creating large--scale sculpture projects for public environments since 1976, throughout the States from coast to coast and in 27 countries: 24 throughout China alone. This has provided me with a uniquely broad experience of art & sculpture in many different cultural & architectural contexts. My first % for art project, POLARIS, was for Miami/Dade in 1979, in the Homestead Public Library: since moved to the central Miami Library.
I work on any scale, in a wide range of materials, in various motifs & types of installation. While many of my projects have been in various kinds of metal such as stainless steel, I especially like working with stone, and also bronze. Many of my large--scale projects have involved working with various types of clients in both early & later stages, sometimes developing a project with them. Virtually all have been designed with their intended sites uppermost in mind. One of the more notable such was working with Expo 88 in Brisbane, Australia, for which I built the 100 ft. high stainless steel PARADIGM, which included 66 computer-controlled airplane lights, representing the DNA structure, world tree, axis mundi & nature. The mirror--polished stainless steel MORNING STAR II, installed at the site center, also was commissioned at 15’dia. representing the pole star & the “still point of the turning world” and the “center”: now it is reinstalled in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. One of my China projects is WIND DRAGON, created for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, representing the axis mundi & an abstract flying/wind dragon.
My sculpture projects tend to be abstract, often geometric in one way or another. Certain projects may have more literal, humanistic or figurative aspects. My stone sculptures tend to be a balance of natural aspects with human interventions. My sculpture may be seen as iconic for the most part, metaphoric or symbolic, often referencing a center, whether actual or spatial. It often works with balance; space in contrast with form; implied space; ambiguity if incorporating mirror surfaces; light & darkness; a continuum implied or actual; movement & flow such as a vortex; interior & exterior; natural/organic with man-made. I always thoroughly research a given project & create a sculpture or project that speaks to the pertinent characteristics of the situation, whether cultural, environmental or architectural