About this Sculpture
- Artist: Clyde Ball
- Medium: Bronze
- Size: 32" x 24" x 99"
Fountainhead
About the Artist
“I’d always been fascinated by sculpture,” said Clyde Ball, who began working with bronze in 1964 using an oxyacetylene welding torch, a tool he continued to use throughout his career. Though best known for his bronze work, which varies from abstract, non-objective to literal forms, Ball also painted in watercolor, oil, and acrylic, and created drawings and clay pieces.
“I’m never too sure what direction my work is going to take,” he explained. “I seldom start with much of a notion as to what the piece is to be. I seem to lose spontaneity when controlled by a drawing…I really prefer to just start into the piece, it will tell me where to go.”
For Ball, making art was a process of discovery, with his intuition guiding the creative process. His goal wasn’t always to convey a specific message, but each piece often would make a statement.
“The joy to me is discovering the unexpected, the wedding of forms which have no business going together.”
Location
115 Butler St., Saugatuck, MI 49453
Experience this Sculpture
Walk around the piece.
At first, it might feel like a menagerie of unrelated forms.
But take your time. Look again.
Do you see repeating shapes hidden in the complexity? It’s a challenge that requires concentration. Circles, lines, angles, and organic forms begin to emerge.
Step in closer.
Each piece was sculpted separately, then assembled into a whole.
Notice how they fit together in an abstract puzzle.
Abstract art doesn’t always tell a clear story or offer an obvious meaning. Instead of searching for a meaning, simply respond to and enjoy the movement, the balance, and the energy.
Now step back from the sculpture.
At the top of the sculpture is a shape that stands apart.
It has flowing forms, similar to wrinkles in fabric.
Why do you think the artist placed this form in the sculpture?
