WISHING WELL
COMMISSIONED BY KENT AND VICKI LOGAN
Wishing Well is a political tableau about the suffering of immigrant workers. It started with the idea of a figure emerging from a barbed wire tunnel opening that, from a distance, appeared to be in a well.
COMMISSIONED BY KENT AND VICKI LOGAN
Wishing Well is a political tableau about the suffering of immigrant workers. It started with the idea of a figure emerging from a barbed wire tunnel opening that, from a distance, appeared to be in a well.
We smashed barbed wire into a wood form to make a cube once before and I loved how it turned out. It looked like thousands of trained, silver worms. I wanted to do a donut shape as a well-head.
We started with a steel base to weld the wire down and to build the curved wood forms on.
The wood forms were just to contain the wire while it was being compressed. Once installed, the wood comes off.
The wood forms were just to contain the wire while it was being compressed. Once installed, the wood comes off.
The wire shape is very strong. We used about 5 miles of it. The interior diameter is 4 foot and the exterior diameter is 12 foot. We built the ring in the shop and then flew it into position with a hydraulic crane.
This loose rock is indigenous to the area. On close inspection it’s dusty and ordinary, not very impressive, but choosing something from China or Brazil with colorful marbling doesn’t have anything to do with anything.
We compacted the grade with a plate tamp and screeded the sub grade so the steel base plate would sit level.
Our longtime field superintendent Luis (left) is placing the ring over the tunnel opening. The steel pan we built stays in place and acts as a stop for the sand. We placed sand between the stone ring and the barbed wire to represent danger to the desolation of the desert.
Javelina are common around the Logan property.
We shot a variety of ideas for the figure and baby.
The mold was a traditional skin safe silicone with a plaster mother mold. All hair, no matter how fine, comes out.
The figure and baby were made using a cold cast metal process. Aluminum powder is mixed with resins and plaster to create a hard, durable, cast of a mold that can be buffed out to reveal its integral metallic surface. This method is a fraction of the cost of cast bronze and stable in the weather but more susceptible to vandalism. Damage is however easy to repair and leaves no visible patch.
Kent wrote the following alternative interpretation of the piece in the Garden Collection catalog.
As Bill has mentioned, his inspiration for Wishing Well was the highly emotional issue of illegal immigration versus the necessity of secure borders. While it’s easy to take sides in the complex problem, the real tragedy is the inability of the political system to find a practical, compassionate solution. At first glance, this sculpture paints a bleak picture – a woman attired only in a ragged, torn dress and boots appears to have reached the limits of her endurance, and despite all innate maternal instincts, is about to drop her baby down the “well” – which is in fact the end of the tunnel which has “delivered” the two of them to a new life opportunity. The fact that the woman’s face is covered (and is not the face of the actual model) is also interesting in the sense that the artist, perhaps unwittingly, has turned one specific person into a generic symbol of “everywoman”. Also, he has applied a luminous silver finish to both the woman and the child which projects a “brightness”, in contrast to the implied desperate action about to be taken. To me, Bill has created a paradox (again, perhaps unwittingly versus his original intention) for the viewer – do we accept the finality of this desperate apparent capitulation, or perhaps she is hesitating, and reconsidering her action before it is too late. How many of us have felt like surrendering to the press of life’s problems, only to find strength and conviction to persevere at the darkest moment. The final clue to resolving the paradox lies in the title of the sculpture itself – Wishing Well – which in and of itself implies hope for the future. While Tonnesen may have intended this work to reflect a specific political issue (however complex), he appears to have struck a more fundamental chord of the human condition.
KL
As Bill has mentioned, his inspiration for Wishing Well was the highly emotional issue of illegal immigration versus the necessity of secure borders. While it’s easy to take sides in the complex problem, the real tragedy is the inability of the political system to find a practical, compassionate solution. At first glance, this sculpture paints a bleak picture – a woman attired only in a ragged, torn dress and boots appears to have reached the limits of her endurance, and despite all innate maternal instincts, is about to drop her baby down the “well” – which is in fact the end of the tunnel which has “delivered” the two of them to a new life opportunity. The fact that the woman’s face is covered (and is not the face of the actual model) is also interesting in the sense that the artist, perhaps unwittingly, has turned one specific person into a generic symbol of “everywoman”. Also, he has applied a luminous silver finish to both the woman and the child which projects a “brightness”, in contrast to the implied desperate action about to be taken. To me, Bill has created a paradox (again, perhaps unwittingly versus his original intention) for the viewer – do we accept the finality of this desperate apparent capitulation, or perhaps she is hesitating, and reconsidering her action before it is too late. How many of us have felt like surrendering to the press of life’s problems, only to find strength and conviction to persevere at the darkest moment. The final clue to resolving the paradox lies in the title of the sculpture itself – Wishing Well – which in and of itself implies hope for the future. While Tonnesen may have intended this work to reflect a specific political issue (however complex), he appears to have struck a more fundamental chord of the human condition.
KL
