M.L. SNOWDEN SCULPTURE
THE TERRESTRIAL FORUM

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Verdura stands at the artistic threshold of M.L. Snowden’s creational vision of the forces and energies that transform the earth’s crust; a vision explored in the sculptural works of the TERRESTRIAL FORUM.

 

Here in Verdura, M.L. Snowden dedicates the art of sculpture to achieving an ideal portrait of the power behind growing plants; plants that through their chemistries, root systems and growth life cycles, constantly reshape and mold the Earth’s mantle - a sculpting process of the earth geologists refer to as organogenesis. Verdura is in a sense, the depiction of the classical concept of “genius” wherein an otherwise abstract power comes to be clothed in the form of a specific representation. Here, Verdura is the spirit of flowers. Both in scale and in the detailed complexity of the greenworld Verdura inhabits, the sculpture is an unequaled tour de force of historic and contemporary methods of bronze casting.

 

An exemplary engineering accomplishment, Snowden has realized Verdura through complex separate mold systems. Verdura’s weight effortlessly emerges from a single stem that evolves into the lush foliate forms of Dieffenbachia, orchids, magnolias, lilies, tulips, roses and the central figure of Verdura. Snowden’s expertise with controlled gravity pour techniques have made Verdura into a breathtaking bouquet through metallurgical science. M.L. Snowden invented the protocols and specific foundry wax that makes the casting of Verdura possible.

 

Ultimately for the sculptor, Verdura is an ineffable and delicate portrait of peace. Verdura reaches out to our own spiritual core that responds to the spiritual oasis the floral world offers. The hands of Verdura are an invitation to a contemplative reality.

 

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

 

Such is the message of Verdura - the sculpture reaches out to form a consonance within our own perceptions; it is possible to recognize the floral oasis and gracious harmony Verdura offers because such a vision is alive within humankind.