Carlsbad is kicking off the New Year with an intriguing outdoor sculpture exhibition featuring the works of two noted Encinitas sculptors.
“Steel and Glass: The Sculptures of Jeffery Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck” is the newest exhibit curated by Karen McGuire, who has put Carlsbad’s art program on the map.
The exhibit couples the tensile strength of steel and titanium constructions for which Jeffery Laudenslager is recognized, and the ethereal whimsy that characterizes Deanne Sabeck’s metal and dichroic glass sculpture.
Laudenslager says since meeting Sabeck in 1992, “Deanne and I have shared not only collaborative efforts, but an almost continuous mutual mentorship.
“We have done shows together, several commissions, a couple of performances and developed bodies of work that merge our thoughts and intuition.” Their current exhibit affirms that the two artists continue to interface brilliantly.
Laudenslager creates sculptures of steel and titanium that are gracefully animated by the wind. Familiar to North County residents, the elegant simplicity and harmony of his 34-foot high kinetic sculpture titled “Archimage,” which overlooks Interstate 5 at Carmel Valley Road, received the coveted Orchid Award in 1999.
His kinetic creations are included in public and private collections worldwide.
Laudenslager explains, “I use illusion, movement and perception of space in combinations which slightly bend our normal experience of space and mass.
My non-kinetic pieces, whether small or large-scale, are illusionist riddles of steel, which trick the mind with clever geometries. This can result in even my static sculptures appearing animated.”
He continues, “My kinetic sculptures also rely on unexpected principles of geometry.
“These works in stainless steel and/or titanium, with their unpredictable movements, are captivating yet contemplative. The widely varying speed at which the sculptures’ elements respond to the wind is a surprise of mesmerizing grace — hard metal performing elegant tai-chi with the wind.”
While Laudenslager’s work is known for elegant movement, Deanne Sabeck creates equally graceful works in metal and dichroic glass, which has the property of dividing the light spectrum to display a particular transmitted color and its complementary reflected color, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected.
During her artistic journey that began in architectural stained glass, Sabeck has experimented and mastered almost every glass technique, resulting in the development of her own distinctive art form.
Relocating from Sedona, Ariz. to Encinitas in 1990, she redirected her focus from architectural glass to working directly with the light spectrum as a sculptural medium.
Using various types of reflective glass, Sabeck creates spatially sculptural installations of light. The glass is bent, cast, fractured and sometimes etched with text and or imagery to distort and refract the light, which bathes the surrounding space in vibrant color.
The work uses illusion to cause viewers to question their perception and the essence of light. Sabeck’s work is shown in many galleries across the country as well as her own Kuivato Gallery in Sedona.
She has completed many large commissions throughout the U.S. and abroad, and her work can be seen locally at the San Diego International Airport, Pacific Station in Encinitas, and Pacifica Del Mar in Del Mar Plaza.
“Steel and Glass: The Sculptures of Jeffery Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck” will be on exhibit through June 2014.
The Carlsbad Sculpture Garden, adjacent to the Cole Library, is at 2955 Elmwood St. in and is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The public is invited to attend the opening reception Jan. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m.
More information on the artists is available at deannesabeck.com and laudenslagersculpture.com.
Kay Colvin is director of the L Street Fine Art Gallery in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, serves as an arts commissioner for the City of Encinitas, and specializes in promoting emerging and mid-career artists. Contact her at [email protected].
