never never land
2001
12” x 12” x 48” + stand
birch ply, tubes, fans, lights, hardware, lenses, fly wings


never never land is my first kinetic work. Multiple wind tunnels keep four pairs of joined fly wings in apparent perpetual flutter. Small fans are housed in the bottom of each chamber of the sculpture. Air is directed up each clear conduit and a dimmer switch controls it’s velocity. Light in the top portion of each tube shine down and cast shadows or reflect off the wings in motion. The curved background surface is painted light blue and acts as a surrogate sky. There is a lens suspended in front of each tube representing moments of clarity. As the motion of the wings is random, chaotic, life-like – they pass before the lenses occasionally, hover a moment, then either ascend to the light or fall with gravity. never never land is about being present in the past tense, referring to that enchanted place we never grow up. However, it is forbearing; as the title suggests we might never rest. It is the potential to leave and affect the places left behind and vice versa. Easily about existence, presence and absence, it is also about the grace of movement through space and residual energy. It is about moments of clarity. It is about captivity. It is about empty skies.