The article below was sent to me from the Anderson Art Collective. The article features local artist Blankeney Sanford who created the sculpture that currently welcomes people into the “Rogue Wave” show at Anderson’s Carpinteria gallery. Blankeney’s work was also seen in this year’s Rumble Art Fair.
To learn more about the artist check out here website here.
Rogue Wave Sculpture Barrels Attendees
Santa Barbara, CA – It takes Mother Nature only moments to form the perfect wave at Rincon Point. It took artist Blakeney Sanford two weeks to install the twelve-foot-high wave she recently created for Anderson Art Collective’s contemporary surf art show entitled Rogue Wave. The wave, which arcs over the entrance to the historic Henry Fish Seed Company building in Carpinteria, appears to break through the wall into the gallery space beyond.
Sanford created the sculpture using her signature materials of rebar, fiberglass screen and pigmented epoxy resin and was guided by her knowledge in mathematics. “I want these sculptures to be as close to nature’s perfection as possible. We are each innately a part of nature, so what is nature appeals innately to us,” she explains. So the schematic for the work and her initial architectural sketches were based on her mathematical depiction of an actual wave. “It’s primarily geometry, circles and ellipses, circumferences, radii, and surface areas. This gives me a general concept of the measurements for the piece, and in theory it should work, but it is after all art and it changes sometimes as the creative forces flow.”
In her work Sanford is inspired by her love of nature, particularly the ocean. “It comes from time spent above and beneath the ocean surface. When I dive through a wave and open my eyes and I see the way that the water spins around me or if I’m diving deep and then look up at the surface, the translucency of the water and the light inspires me. Similarly, I am inspired if I’m riding on the face of a wave, with the wall next to me. This piece evokes that viewpoint. I want the light and transparency and color to have an effect on the viewer without their having to do anything. They turn blue and become part of the wave as they enter the show.”
Gallery director Leigh-Anne Anderson notes that the response to the sculpture has been outstanding. “Depending on the time of day that you enter the gallery, your experience of getting barreled by this unique work of art will vary. The show is open from 1-6 Friday, Saturday and Sunday so you get the spectrum of direct sunlight and shadows. At night, with the lights on in the gallery, it casts shadows on the exterior wall that look like a set of waves coming in. Remarkable.
“The sculpture looks so natural here that people are surprised to learn that they can take it home and install it on any wall. While this particular Blakeney Sanford “blue wave” was constructed on site, it is not site specific and is in fact two separate sculptures that can stand alone, dramatic in any setting.”
The Rogue Wave contemporary surf art show runs through September 1st and features the work of twelve artists including surfing notables and the family of artists Ron Anderson, Benjamin Anderson and Sean Anderson, who founded the collective.
Anderson ART Collective (http://www.andersonartcollective.com) has six shows on the 2009 Santa Barbara art schedule, all of which will contribute a percentage of sales to non-profit organizations admired by this unique family of contemporary fine artists. The current show is donating 5% of sales to the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
For more information go to http://www.andersonARTcollective.com or call 805.684.8783