Carol Spack
born 1954, Boston, MA
lives and works in Framingham, MA
Bark Balls, 2002, bronze, 5 elements: 2@18” diameter, 2@17” diameter, 1@16” diameter, Lent by the Artist
Sculptor Carol Spack seeks to "enhance an existing space and raise the viewer's awareness in order to create a sense of place" with her sculptures. Bark Balls, a group of five separate sculptures, claim their own space beneath the boughs of an enormous evergreen tree. Each ball was individually cast in bronze from actual tree bark and maintains the rough and gnarled texture of a tree's surface. These natural, organic bark patterns contrast with the precise geometric spherical composition of each sculpture. Though made of metal, these enigmatic objects appear to blend seamlessly with their surroundings, as if they had fallen from the trees above.
Spack challenges the viewer to "start to notice similar patterns elsewhere in nature, such as the complex lines of our own fingerprints, or the shapes carved in the sand by a retreating tide or the marks left by frost."
