About this Sculpture
- Artist: Ken Thompson
- Medium: Concrete
- Size: 168" x 14" x 88"
Inverted Arch
About the Artist
Ken Thompson has been creating sculpture for more than 25 years, with a primary focus on large-scale public works installed across Michigan, Ohio, and beyond. He works with a variety of materials to shape monumental, elemental forms that command space and attention. For Ken, sculpture’s 3-D physicality is part of its power and why he loves it.
“It has a presence,” he says. “It’s undeniable. It’s going to take up space, it’s going to block your way, it’s going to make you take a different path.”
Beyond that, he’s also drawn to sculpture’s durability, the process of creating it, and its tactile quality.
“You really can’t go up and touch a painting,” he explains, “but you can go up and touch a sculpture, and you’re going to see so much more with your fingers than you do with your eyes.”
Location
52 Bayou St #22, Douglas, MI 49406
Experience this Sculpture
Walk around the sculpture.
What major shape do you notice first?
How do you think Thompson created this inverted arch?
Most limestone blocks are cut straight.
To form a near-perfect curve from stone requires both precision and skill.
Move your eyes from one side of the arch to the other.
There’s a sense of rhythm and motion here that feels upbeat.
Each end of the arch lifts upward. What kind of music comes to mind when you follow its curve?
View the sculpture from the side.
From this angle, the arch reveals that its dimension is very thin, almost surprising in contrast to its bold shape from the front.
It feels like an entirely different sculpture from this angle.
