Public & Large Sculptures

The Visioning Series

Hand-forged steel outdoor sculptures with chisel-slit forged verticals that move gently with the wind — scaled for public spaces, courtyards, and landscape settings. Pieces from this series have appeared at Art Around the Corner, Art 2C on Havana, and Art in Public Places.

Artist Statement from Christopher Thomson

Pulling sticks of yellow hot 2,300 degree steel from the fire and hammering them to shape before they cool fascinates and excites me as it has mankind for thousands of years. The fluidity and immediacy of forging induces the intuitive in-the-moment state from which I like to create. Many evenings after work I hike from my blacksmith shop down into the nearby wild Pecos River Canyon, swim and then improvise music on my flute. Only after its creation did I realize that the “Visioning” series sub-consciously incorporated sensibilities discovered in that music. Forging smaller pieces, the spontaneity happens automatically. Maintaining this freedom of process in larger pieces is an interesting challenge using jib cranes and large industrial power hammers. These finished pieces still exhibit my spontaneous forged aesthetic.

- Christopher Thomson