Tag Archives: Sculpture

Nataraja

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Nataraja is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine dancer. The sculpture is symbolic of Shiva as the lord of dance and dramatic arts, with its style and proportions made according to Hindu texts on arts.

The dwarf (not a baby) under Nataraja’s feet is Apasmāra, which represents ‘tamas’; ignorance and nonsensical speech. Since then Lord Shiva is also known as ‘Hara’, which means destroyer of ‘Tamas’.

A statue of Nataraja at Shilparamam, Hyderabad …..

Nataraja

Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare

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National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London displays Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare, a 1:30 replica of Nelson’s flagship, HMS ‘Victory’ on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. It has 80 guns and 37 sails set as on the day of battle. The richly patterned sails were inspired by Indonesian batik, mass-produced by Dutch traders and sold in West Africa. The sculpture is 15.4 ft long and measures 7.7 ft from the keel to the top of the main mast.

Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare

Yinka Shonibare ‘Ship in a Bottle’

Charlotte – Metalmorphosis

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Metalmorphosis, by Czech artist David Černýa, is a mirrored sculpture housed in the Whitehall Technology Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The creation consists of nearly 40 steel pieces grouped into 7 segments which independently rotate 360 degrees. When the segments are aligned, the sculpture appears to be a giant, silver head with all of the usual fixtures in their regular places.

Charlotte – Metalmorphosis Face On

Charlotte – Firebird Sculpture

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Affectionately known as “Disco Chicken” by area residents, the shimmering Firebird sculpture was installed in 2009, and stands at the entrance of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. The statue stands over 17 feet tall and weighs over 1,400 pounds. The entire statue is covered from top to bottom in over 7,500 pieces of mirrored and colored glass. The piece was created in 1991 by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle.

Charlotte – Firebird Sculpture

Burke Brise Soleil

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The Milwaukee Art Museum addition, known as the Quadracci Pavilion, was architect Santiago Calatrava’s first built U.S. project, completed in 2001 on the shore of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, USA.  Perhaps its most dramatic feature is a set of “wings” – the Burke Brise Soleil (from the French for “sun breaker”). The Brise Soleil forms a movable sunscreen with a 217-foot that is raised and lowered throughout the day to provide shade to the interior of the museum, while creating a sort of kinetic urban sculpture. The brise soleil is made up of 72 steel fins, ranging in length from 26 to 105 feet, weighing 90 tons. It takes three and a half minutes for the wings to open or close. Sensors on the fins continuously monitor wind speed and direction, and whenever winds exceed 23 mph for more than three seconds, the wings close automatically.

The images show the wings in the open and closed positions.

Burke Brise Soleil

Burke Brise Soleil