Works of Art I Know

Genesis Wall Sculpture
David Robertson
Contemporary (Actual Date Unknown)
American

How the artist uses texture:
This sculpture seems to branch out in a way that makes the viewer's eyes travel up and down repeatedly as if the entire sculpture cannot fit in one view. The multiple extensions on the sculpture all have different textures. My guess is that the textures are to show diversity. There is a lot of emphasis happening in this piece of art as well. There is a line of symmetry cutting across the center so both the top and bottom are identical. This small detail that actually affects the whole sculpture is not only hard to spot, but teasing in a way as if Robertson is saying, "can you see it?" At first I couldn't notice it because the arrangement and textures seemed so random.

This is a hand-made steel sculpture. I'm not familiar with working with steel, but I don't think that he used his hands to create the textures. I think that the longest branch formed its own texture from being handled so much. As for the short one which increases in width, I think he used a smoothing tool to flatten any bumps it formed. The skinny one which has a small hook at the end is too small to take on any texture unless it was intentionally made. I think that the artist wanted to keep that branch texture-less because otherwise it would be hard to take on the form it has now. As for the other skinny piece, i think Robertson took a skinny cylinder-shaped object, laid the steel on a flat surface, and pressed the cylinder into the steel, keeping the width in between constant.