Lotus in Motion, new work by Gordon Halloran
West Coast artist Gordon Halloran, who has pioneered the sculptural use of brilliantly colored ice in huge public installations, has created a new outdoor artwork called Lotus in Motion. The artist uses site, scale and color to attract viewers with Lotus. Like bees to bright flowers, onlookers are seduced by vibrancy, lured into collective play.
Inspiration
Made up of lightweight paintings in the shape of the lily pad, bold in color and varied in size, the work finds inspiration in Claude Monet's impressionist waterlilies, calving icebergs and overlapping organic textures of landscape flora. Working along the trajectory of his unique, sculptural ice paintings (www.paintingsbelowzero.com), Halloran’s floating paintings are layered with pattern and hue whose origins proliferate in nature.
Commission
The artist works together with the landscape architect in the design of the water environment and can provide numerous Lotus paintings of varying sizes, according to design. Lightweight yet sturdy, Lotus floats on water, gently pushed by breeze, pulled by current, or held in place by underwater tethers.
Form
A custom fabricated honeycomb aluminum panel supports the artwork and keeps the paintings buoyant yet weighted on top of the water. Sealed against moisture and protected against UV rays, Lotus paintings are designed to last indefinitely. Once installed, Lotus becomes an element of the garden, not unlike the plants that surround them.
