catherine widgery

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Shadow Play, 2008

Glass and aluminum, silk screened images on canopies, 28 x 160 x 44'

One of the things that strikes me about the desert is the delicacy of the plants and trees. Leaves are small; shadows are never dense or heavy. It is as if light and shadow are a woven tracery. This is the inspiration for Shadow Play. I wanted to make a work that was subtly discovered, much the way the desert itself reveals itself only when we take a moment to look closely to observe. Installed at the light rail station in Tempe, AZ, Shadow Play has two monumental etched glass mesquite trees, luminous in the sun and lit at night by changing colored light. A ghost shadow, only visible in sunlight, has been silk-screened onto the white canopies. These remind us of the fragility and beauty of the natural world.

above: photo by Daniel Greene.