Flexion II – Jan/Feb 2009

In October of 2007, my brother and I collected the rhyolite from an ancient volcanic ridge 50 miles east of Reno. I liked the “desert varnish” on one side and the patchwork of colors on the other. Months later I decided to create a right leaning torso on one side, leaving the sun-varnished back side untouched.

This last July at Camp Brotherhood, with the help of Ken Barnes and Tom Francis, I began the work, choosing a large granodiorite cobble for a base.

In October my son-in-law David True, who had recently undergone back surgery at Seattle’s Swedish Orthopedic Institute, told me that he wished to donate the piece to the Institute’s permanent art collection.

Enthusiastic about his idea and guided by his anatomical expertise, I created the ribs with chainsaw plunge cuts. All was ready by the second week of December. Verena Schwippert and Kirk McLean loaned me their modified engine hoist and Al Mangold devised a way to use it as a transport platform from the studio to the hospital’s third floor family-conference area.

So, fourteen months after its discovery on that volcanic ridge, and with the much appreciated help from a few NWSSA friends, ‘Flexion II‘ now stands as a vivid and visible example of the human body’s abilities to work and to heal.