Henry Richardson poses in front of his sculpture Reflections on Unity, which was installed at the Asheville Art Museum on September 19, 2019. | Henry Richardson, Reflections on Unity, 2016, chiseled, sanded, and bonded plate glass, 72 × 72 × 72 inches. On loan from the Artist, EL2019.04.01. © Henry Richardson. Artist Henry Richardson arrives this week to install his glass orb Reflections on Unity, Thursday, September 19.
The two-ton sculpture will be the first work installed in the Museum’s plaza as part of its inaugural public art sculptural exhibition.
Richardson chiseled and sanded bonded plate glass to create his orb series. “It’s made out of a material that you don’t see in sculpture in this scale,” Richardson says of the bulletproof glass used to create the six-foot work of art. “And by placing it on this very large boulder, which is black and angular, you’re going to have a sense of mass down below and almost ethereal lightness on the glass orb.”
“My hope is that Reflections on Unity acts as a symbol of what the Asheville Art Museum is—a place of unity,” explains Assistant Curator Whitney Richardson (no relation to the artist), who played an integral role in selecting this work. “I want it to start dialogues about inclusion, diversity, and how art can facilitate those discussions. I also expect that the visitor will see the beauty, inner quiet, and yet highly interactive nature of this work of glass and appreciate it in relation to our new glass building.”
“People who work with their hands are drawn to it,” Henry Richardson says, “which hopefully will bring more people into the Museum to access art.” He hopes this sculpture will encourage active listening, and connect more people to contemporary art. “I think contemporary art is sometimes less accessible to people, and simplicity can also be profound.”
More on Henry Richardson at henryrichardson.com.
Henry Richardson intentionally incorporated a local element by choosing to display the sculpture on a locally sourced boulder. A special thank you to Hedrick’s Industries in Swannanoa, NC, who donated the boulder for this installation.
