Transcendence

In memory of Al Voigt

Cast concrete and found metal
96” x 48” x 60”
SOLD

I cast this sculpture in concrete, working found industrial materials into its surface and structure—mechanical mechanisms, scrap steel pulled from a refrigeration system, car parts—as if the detritus of our mechanized, disposable age had settled into strata. Out of that wreckage rose a life cast of a human figure, ascending from the industrial rubble. I wanted the piece to embody transcendence quite literally: a body rising out of failure, out of the parts and pieces that no longer serve their original purpose, into something whole and upright and human.

This piece was commissioned by the Voigt Family Sculpture Foundation for their exhibition Spirit of the Man, honoring Al Voigt, who had recently passed and who spent his life as a driving force behind large-scale public art in Sonoma County—a true Renaissance man and sculptor in his own right, who founded the foundation alongside his wife Judy and their family. I never had the chance to know Al myself, so when it came time to choose a model for the life cast, I asked his son, Che, to pose for the figure. Working with Che and his wife Cairenn in the casting process became the connection to Al.

The piece speaks to the mythos of transcendence: the way we rise from personal struggle and failure, surpassing the limits life places on us, carried by something distinctly human.