Visit Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen’s second sculpture unveiling of the “HOME” public arts campaign took place at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens Ball Visitor Center on Thursday. Luke Huling, a ceramic sculptor and associate professor of Visual Arts and Visual Arts coordinator at Sandhills Community College, imagined and created the installation. His nationally exhibited work explores the human form through intricate textures, symbolism and imaginative compositions.
“The design was completely influenced by the location,” said Huling in a Sandhills Community College news release. “When I found out the garden’s location was a go, I spent a couple of days walking around the paths with a sketch book and a camera documenting all the flora and fauna that interested me. Everything that I sculpted is also something that I have seen during my walks. I really wanted my home piece to honor the plants and animals that we share our home with.”
His piece of work includes 29 pinecones creating the letter “H”; the “O” is made of 16 zinnia flowers and 16 cone flowers; and the “M” is made up of eight pine logs and native birds – one cardinal, one bluebird, and two cockaded woodpeckers. The “E” has 27 green frogs and 33 green anole lizards shaping the letter. Every letter component is hand-sculpted from North Carolina clay manufactured in Star.
“I have been working on this project for the last six months,” he said. “During the summer when I was not teaching in-person courses, my average workday was 10-12 hours every day, seven days a week. I believe there were only five or six days where I did not work during the summer months due to being out of town. It was a massive undertaking for sure! Starting on October 11th, I began installing the M, the O on the 12th, the M on the 13th and the E was finished on the 16th. Each letter took 8-12 hours to install, and the E definitely took the longest due to the fact that it has almost just as many components to install as the H, O, and M combined. If I were to guess how much the entire project took from start to finish, I would estimate well over one thousand hours.”
He adds that he’s honored to be one of the five artists chosen for the HOME project and happy to make a piece about home in a place where he feels so at home. “Everyone has been so kind and excited to see the finished project; I truly feel such a strong sense of community with everyone here.”
Since this was a commission project, Huling was unable to have students work with him to create the piece. “However, this opportunity has been a great teaching tool to show my students what it takes to design, build, and install a large public art installation from start to finish,” said Huling. “This project has sparked some great conversations on the engineering of public art, especially how important it is for artists to be versed in a variety of power tools and construction elements.”
Guests can visit the installation at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens located at 3245 Airport Rd., Pinehurst. Visit:https://www.sandhills.edu/horticultural-gardens/
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Contributed photo/article.
