Jon Barlow Hudson

One of my series of CLOUD HANDS. the first large scale, 11 ft. hi. version is at Europos Parkas Outdoor Sculpture Museum, Vilniaus, Lithuania. the larger 12 ft. version is in Xian, China.

carved in PA granite. 4ft. hi. one of a series based upon a unique Polyhedron created within my EIDOLON series of sculptures. can be made in various proportions, sizes, types of material.

This sculpture series is a celebration of the eternal feminine. I was inspired by a small bronze votive figurine seen in the Etruscan Museum in Fiesole, above Florence, Italy. Although the ancient sculpture had no head or arms, the abstracted breast, derriere and strong calves spoke to a universal feminine form that I have seen in works of art from many cultures across different times. I have worked with this motif in both very small scale and up to 9 ft. high in China. there is a life size version in NH. this one is NH granite, about 36\" hi. this one is my first realistic face carved in granite.

\r\nThe first idea informing this stand of sculptures is the “continuum”, which I understand to imply a continuation of something thru time, space & in form. The 3D cross is indicative of the seven dimensions of space: as above, so below, fore & aft, right & left & of course, the center. From the center one moves out into the continuum of infinite space, as indicated by the 3D cross. The 3D cross is of interest to me because it refers to all the dimensions of space that one utilizes when making sculpture & doing Tai Chi, which I have practiced for 44 years. \r\n \r\nThe second idea involved in this symposium of sculptures is the “uncarved block”, which derives from Zen Buddhism. It indicates the state of being one aspires to where one has returned to the state of mind that is a clean slate, like that of a child before self-consciousness takes over, or the state of a block of wood or stone before it is carved into something recognizable, like a Buddha \r\n\r\n

I took the shape of the slab of Italian Cervaiole Marble and plotted a logrythmic spiral within the shape. that determined the placement of the centers of the circles.\r\nThe spacing of the ripples, which are about 1/4\"hi., are determined by the Fibonacci numerical series. I could have utilized the way the water ripples travel out\r\ntogether from the center, but this would make it only water, so by using the Fibonacci series, we bring in other possibilities, such as sound, magnetic, electric, atomic\r\nvibrations--continual creation.......

My UNCARVED BLOCK series of sculptures are inspired by several things. The title comes from the Zen concept of returning to that state of being before the world of illusion, to be as a child, a clear\r\nslate, an \"uncarved block\", before the block of wood or stone has been carved into a Buddha. The theme of the center is of great interest to me, whether it is a material center or one that is a void: some of \r\nthis series are one way, others the opposite. The design of the sculpture indicates movement around the center: this activity may be found in many areas of humanity and nature: one of which is the\r\npractice of Tai Chi Chuan. This sculpture is carved in white Vermont marble. Its companion piece is in black Wisconsin granite.

my local community of Yellow Spring, Ohio, wanted to have one of my sculptures. since we already have a fountain, the yellow spring, i determined that the town is a tree town, with not just\r\na tree committee but it is surrounded by forests and parks: Glen Helen. it is also a community of education: various schools like Antioch College, and other such institutions and teachers along with writers, publishers, and artists and engineers and the like. i determined that a tree of books would best represent the community. the trunk is molded from real books and the foliage is fabricated bronze sheet metal. \r\n on the sculpture there is down low a bespeckled \" book worm\", in the foliage there is a \"tree house\" and a \"book plate\" in reference to Antioch Bookplate Co.

i was commissioned to create 2 major stainless steel sculptures for World Expo 1988 in Brisbane, Australia: PARADIGM and MORNING STAR II. PARADIGM is 100 ft. high and was designed \r\nto represent the DNA molecular structure, along with the axis mundi/world axis and the world tree. a partial inspiration was the cholla cactus skeleton. \r\nMORNING STAR was reinstalled in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens post Expo. PARADIGM still awaits reinstallation by the City of Brisbane.

theme of honoring the indigenous Arawak petroglyphs found in nearby fountain cavern, millennia old. i did this by creating a large block with a seat carved into each side.\r\nthe shape is a slight rhombus, so when the top corners of both rhombi meet within the stone, they create an opening thru which the seated may communicated with each other thru the stone.