Defiance : A Sculpture
RBDEF
$9,000.00
A stunning sculptural piece by Richmond Breen...
Black walnut trees have grown in, and around the Davis, Winters, and Woodland California area since the mid to late 1800's.
Recent times, have seen these same trees decimated by the walnut twig beetle in what is known as Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD)
TCD can kill a tree in three short years.
The “Defiance” sculpture, is hewned from one such black walnut tree.
A tree that grew on the Rominger family farm in Winters, California.
“Defiance” speaks to the human condition of triumph and struggle.
Humans, like the black walnut tree, aspire to grow, flourish, and produce.
Yet we struggle in our existance.
We rally, defiantly, against injury, harm, upset and disease.
We aspire to cheat death even while knowing our actions are futile.
Death is inevitable.
And, in our eventual acceptance of this ultimate inevitablity... we are triumphant.
Homage to Charlie Rominger, an exceptional man, brilliant scholar, loving father, and dedicated conservationist. Who, like the black walnut trees, succumed to disease at much too early an age.
About the artist: Breen, award-winning landscape designer, stone mason, carpenter, and sculptor, is a 5th generation Nevadan.
Artist statement: "As I carved Defiance, I thought of my friend, Charlie Rominger and felt his presence. I knew this walnut that grew by the edge of a field he had tended for years spoke of his journey."
About the sculpture's stone: This rare slab of black Sierra granite (seldom seen these days) is a remnant piece dug out, years ago, from underneath a brush-covered earthen berm at the edge of an old quarry in Rocklin, CA.
That quarry, long ago abandoned, now lies beneath a subdivision.
The main base piece is Sierra Salt & Pepper Granite. This granite (a very historic stone, quarried in the eastern Sierra foothills near Reno, Nevada approximately 115 years ago) served as one of many hand-cut blocks used in the construction of the original 1906 Reno City Hall.
The entire piece stands at 76" tall.
Quantity
Only 1 left in stock
About the Maker's Signature Piece
Years ago I had a jewler friend help me create my signature piece. My sketch, respresenting my connection with ocean waves and the beautiful symbolism of Yin & Yang was turned into these cast alloy pieces which I inlay into my works.
