Born 1956, El Paso, TX
Works in East Freetown, MA
is a sculptural landscape environment about passage. It is about the physical passage of the viewer from one point in the landscape to another higher one, or lower one depending upon access point. The vertical distance to be traveled is actually about twenty feet, i.e., a considerable climb and/or descent. The rigor of this physical passage becomes mediated by the flowing water, the meandering step-stones, the variegated plantings that share the path, and the delight of the shimmering rain curtains themselves.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Rain Gates is how it brings the viewer into its presence—the special space that it creates in the landscape. The curved shapes of the Rain Gates seem to rise organically from the craggy bedrock to invite the viewer to meditation, to enter the magic circle, and to proceed through the environment at a slower than intended pace. The flowing, changing water contained by this artist-created subset of nature, allows us to ponder both the fixed and the transient aspects of existence—to set ourselves apart from the flow of the moment, to dream.