M.L. SNOWDEN SCULPTURE
ASCENSION OF ELEMENTS

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Alluvia is a sculptural poem dedicated to the evocation of water. As the first sculpture of the ASCENSION OF ELEMENTS suite, Alluvia strikes a unique elongated floating silhouette that creates a dramatic yet serene impression. Alluvia is joined by Caldera, Terra, and Aeolia to define Earth’s classic elements.

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Alluvia takes its name from the alluvial flood plains of great rivers that have nurtured earth’s civilizations. From the River Seine to the Tiber; from the River Thames to the Mississippi; from the Amazon to the Nile and beyond, the pooling, flowing waters of the deltas and shores of the earth’s great seabeds and rivers are evoked in the abstract rivulet patterns that support the sculptural structure of Alluvia.

A notable engineering accomplishment, Alluvia has been sculpted by Snowden into new levels of metallurgical balance. Alluvia’s weight effortlessly suspended along Snowden’s mathematical calculation, extends what is possible to be achieved in the science and art of contemporary lost wax bronze. M.L. Snowden invented the protocols and specific foundry wax that makes the casting of Alluvia possible.

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Ultimately for the sculptor, Alluvia is a meditation on achieving inner peace in the center of raging waters. The portrait of Alluvia speaks to the heart of our own spiritual core that floats as mystery in the midst of earthly elements that create our physical incarnation. For Snowden, Alluvia is a symbol of sculpture itself because water is an essential component of the clay and bronze which forms its shapes.

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From important roots in the Paris studios of Auguste Rodin and Antonin Mercié, Snowden brings to Alluvia, the glowing luminous platinum Fournier Patina and the touch of the historic Rodin tools that were used to shape the delicate planes of Alluvia’s features.

Such is the message of Alluvia - as humans born of water, earth, air and fire, we can achieve an ascension toward light in the midst of celebrating our own elemental physicality - a perspective that has come to be uniquely celebrated in the art of sculpture.