2020.2 James Rogers

Title
Grubbed

Location
Cowra Sculpture Park 

Year
1991

Media
Sculpture

Medium
steel 

Credit
Gift of Macquarie University 2020

Accession number
2020.2

Utilising Cor-ten steel to provide both a stable rust-like appearance and a contrasting, yet harmonious, warm-brown colour to its natural outdoor surrounds, Rogers’ Grubbed is a surprisingly creative and innovative work. Whilst its voids and solids are seemingly contained within a long and narrow rectangular three-dimensional space, the delineation of the spatial planes and angle folds within, articulates a subtly composed rhythm of asymmetrical balances. These simultaneously generate and regulate harmony and visual movement, particularly as the observer proceeds around the sculpture. Added to this are the ever-changing bands of shade under strong light that provides a decorative transient layer of contrast, which advances and ebbs in thickness and length, dependent upon the sun’s progressive position during the day. The sculpture’s mood is ‘contained grace’, arising, despite its metal construction, from an organic flowing feel for spatial relationships.