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Pencil on paper 14.5 x 21 in 36.8 x 53.3 cm Collection of the artist |
"Stick Dance for Red
Bird, from 1977, contains another Surls-like man holding a stick
upon which nests a large bird. Again there are symbolic elements—an
axe near the bottom which has just split some wood, an egg visible
within the bird's body, a ghost image of a female face above the
bird and a set of carved sticks balanced on the ends of the man's
free hand. The origin was an actual event-the appearance of a bird
on a branch near Surls as he was working in the woods. In his
imagination, the bird became a female symbol and when he drew the
memory, he placed it on a nest which symbolized the house he was
building for his new bride. The axe suggests the act of creation,
and the sticks at his fingertips are components of his sculptures.
Here the elements fuse into a meditation on the complexities
involved as Surls attempted to forge a life which encompassed his
new home, his new marriage and his compulsion to make art. The
notion of dancing while holding a bird balanced on the stick,
suggests the effort to harmonize all aspects of life."
-Eleanor Heartney, from Splendora: A Love Story
in the publication "James Surls: The Splendora Years, 177-1997."
