2007.75.15

• crafts and decorative art

This is a sculpture in the form of a wooden sphere that is covered with gesso and incised with geometric designs. Dark oil paint is forced into the incised designs. A hole is drilled into one side of the sphere to facilitate mounting the sculpture on a wall.

Email correspondence from David French to Debra Peterson (Assistant Registrar), June 13, 2009.Hi Debra,This piece is most certainly mine [2007.75.15]. This was most likely one of the works sold by Susan Cummins Gallery. I had two shows there before she closed her doors. The work is made by painting the wood sphere with gesso, then incising the surface with a razor. I then forced oil paint into the marks. I see the mark-making to be sort of like pictographs with a surface resembling scrimshaw surfaces. Much of the "imagery" appears abstract, but I infuse them with a kind of personal meaning while also being open to a stream of consciousness as I made them. There were numerous pieces that I made in the form of these wood spheres. Unfortunately, most of those pieces were untitled. I did list a number on the works, and perhaps a year - is there any such information on the back? I would assume that this work was made around 1997-1998.