Galvanized steel, steel mesh, LED floodlights, colored recycled glass

Salina Bicentennial Center Sculpture

The title for this sculptural combination of glass, steel and light is a dual reflection of place and time. It reflects the rich tradition of burning the Kansas prairie to rejuvenate and “revive” an important Mid-western ecosystem.  It also directly connects to the notion of revivals that brought large groups of people together to reconnect and renew to each other and their large community.  I find that symbolic connection between the rebirth of the regional prairie and the Salina Bicentennial arena for the local community.  The people that enter the arena can have a magically abstracted experience of the blazing prairie through the illumination of this colored-glass filled series of jagged steel panels.  Although this “wall of fire” is static in nature it is imbued with a warmth and energy that seems catalytic and kinetic in nature.