A number of months ago it was brought to my attention by a young amazing artist, Jethaniel Peterka (
www.jethanielpeterka.com ), that some of my work had "steampunk qualities" about it. I, of course, had no idea what that meant and so I had to go google it. "Retrofuturist fabrication" is one description I found, along with: "the goal of (Steampunk) redesigns is to employ appropriate materials, such as polished brass, iron, wood, and leather, with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era."
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"Unearthing His New Set of Dreams"
Brass, copper, nickel, steel, glass, enamel, vacuum tube, fuses
33x17x4" |
So, yes, there are times when my work can fit into that description, at least partially. This recent piece, shown above, seems to move into that territory. About a year ago I found an old post office box door with a glass window in it at a second hand store. I finally got to use it in this piece.
The door opens to reveal a set of brass-ended old glass fuses that I put writings inside (on acetate), these represent the unlocked dreams within the figure. The blue backdrop is a picture of the Universe (I love that idea that we all have a Universe inside us). The poem etched on the door is about starting over by one of my favorite poets.
There's also a lens that I pulled from an old telescope in this piece.
I surrounded it with an etched nickel plate to make it look official. The lens is suspended above an inset area that has a diagram of a heart in the background and another fuse. The lens magnifies the whole thing. This inset area sits within a brass plate 'upper body' segment that has an etched steam engine diagram on it. So there you go, that's about as steampunk as I get.
