Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Water and Earth by Nicky Statius

  • Title: Water and Earth
  • Artist: Nicky Statius
  • Medium: Steel and glass
  • Size: 15'h x 20'w
  • Creation date: 2012
  • Added to collection: 2012
  • Donor: Student Art in the Garden project
  • Campus: Rock Creek
  • Location: The Learning Garden

Designing a sculpture for a specific site is always a welcome challenge for me. I am particularly interested in this Garden Art Project for its goal of showing sculptures created at Rock Creek Campus.

I am a public artist working mostly with Cor-ten steel and cut stacked glass. My interest in glass, a material that spoke to me instantly, comes from a public art class at Pacific NW College of Art, where I learned to use glass in a large public art project.

Glass cut into narrow strips and set on its cut edge will show vibrant aquamarine hues resembling water. Its gentle colors will change with the different angles of light reflecting on it even on a dark winters day.

"Water and Earth" stands for the two main "ingredients" for a successful garden. The height of the sculpture is calculated to create a seating opportunity for a tired gardener.