St. Sophia -1983

1.2: "St.Sophia" 1983. Acrylic on Vinyl. c. 10'x10'x56'. 2 views in CUNY 3. 4: "St Sophia" details. In 1983, following the exhibit "Eccentric Progressions" at Bertha Urdang, I was asked to present an exhibition in the gallery at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, a space that stretchedbetween the 42nd to 43rd St entrances. The space at Bertha Urdang being small, this was an opportunity to go big. The form was made from two pairs of matched Archimedes spirals. Two of "standard" size, two respectively slightly and much narrower. Mirror matched end to end the standards were catty corners to the others, each pair separated by straight sided spacers about the same width. Seaming beginning at the middle proceeded towards the center of each pair. As the accumulating mismatch differed end- to- end so did the ends of the completed sculpture. Detailed notes are in the Working Figures notebook. 5.6.7.8: St Sophia constructionand studio views. Napped vinyl prevented a double layer of acrylic paint from peeling, the marking system, following the markings in the earlier Universe series. In late June I returned from an emergency trip to New Zealand, with less than 4 months to prepare. With the help of my son, Christopher, several small models were made, then, he and my husband extended the already oversized work table to 7'3" x 14'4". After which I set an inflexible schedule so that, in spite of an extremely hot, humid summer, progress was continuous. The geometry is exact. After the elements were assembled and sewn the piece followed the model. However, Chris, more than 6ft tall, had to duck under the highest arch, so one full seam was unpicked, a small initial displacement introduced so that the arch of St Sophia, named for his paternal grandmother, cleared his head. 9: "Projecting z/o". Ink on Graph paper. c. 26"x26". 10-12: Drawings (4) from St Sophia c 26"x120" Drawings, similar to those made after "Antioch Graces" (see Eccentric Progressions) were prepared and exhibited with the sculpture.