Accession Number
2002/2.146

Title
Untitled, from Suspended Sphere Series

Artist(s)
Todd Hoyer

Object Creation Date
2000

Medium & Support
eucalyptus, wire

Dimensions
40 1/4 x 16 9/16 x 6 3/4 in. (102.08 x 42.07 x 16.99 cm);40 1/4 x 16 9/16 x 6 3/4 in. (102.08 x 42.07 x 16.99 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Robert M. and Lillian Montalto Bohlen

Label copy
Todd Hoyer
Born 1952, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Lives and works in Bisbee, Arizona
Untitled from Suspended Sphere series
2000
Eucalyptus, wire
Gift of Robert M. and Lillian Montalto Bohlen, 2002/2.146
Hoyer employs a variety of techniques, such as carving, weathering, burning, or splitting wood, but avoids cutting and assembling. The Suspended Sphere series reflects the artist’s concern with sculptural and structural integrity and is based on looking at the outline of the vessel as a solid form. Despite appearances, the piece was created from a single block of wood. According to Hoyer, the sphere represents purity of form: “Amidst the trials of life, as displayed on the surface of the form, there lies within a calming, centered purity of the sphere.”
(Out of the Ordinary, 2010)
March 28, 2009
This piece—carved entirely from one large piece of eucalyptus—sets up a striking contrast between the perfectly formed sphere in the center and the two blocks of coarse wood that sandwich it. Hoyer, who specializes in working with each piece of wood’s unique characteristics, carved the large horizontal blocks to reveal the oily eucalyptus wood’s sinewy, rippling qualities. The sphere is evenly wrapped in a thick and rusted wire.
The artist describes his Suspended Sphere Series as a representation of the pure inner form—here the ideal shape of the sphere, which lies inside any rough solid vessel, from a tree trunk to a carved wooden bowl. Hoyer has said, “There is a calming perfection of the geometric form, which I search for. Amidst the trials of life, as displayed on the surface of the form, there lies within a calming, centered purity of the sphere. The wire-wrapped and rusted surface of the sphere binds and contains the ancient soul.”

Subject matter
Based on looking at the outline suggested by negative space of a vessel as a solid form. The sphere represents purity of form. The piece was created from a single block of wood.

Physical Description
A sphere, wrapped in rusted wire, is sandwiched between two hefty, rough hewn, chunks of wood.
freestanding multimedia wood sculpture, with rectangular wood base and top sandwiching a small wire-covered sphere at center

Primary Object Classification
Sculpture

Primary Object Type
abstract sculpture

Additional Object Classification(s)
Wood and Woodcarving

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Abstract (fine arts style)
carvings (visual works)
sculpture (visual works)
spheres (geometric figures)
wood (plant material)
woodworking