KYLE HOGAN
Staff Writer
The creator of the strange tree sculpture in Cross Creek Plaza, artist Norman Grochowski, is in high demand lately.
For the first time in his 40-year career, the Los Angeles County Art Council has commissioned him, and is funding the effort, to create a monumental sculpture at the Topanga Public Library.
After signing that contract, the city also commissioned Grochowski to elaborate the original theme by creating several smaller sculptures on the main entry plaza for the library.
Rebecca Banyas, project manager for the Civic Art Program and member of the Los Angeles Arts Commission, explained that Grochowski was commissioned for the project because of his past work, including “Tree of Mystic Life” in the Cross Creek Plaza in Malibu.
Also, Grochowski was a resident of Topanga for 15 years and studied fine art in Santa Monica before moving to Northern California.
“Topanga is a artistic community,” Banyas said. “We wanted to get a local for the job and the selection committee chose Norman.”
She describes the project as “monumental” toward this goal.
“He will be completing three pieces for the library,” Banyas explained. “Norman will be designing and sculpting six light fixtures for the inside and outside of the library, three steel flowers that stand between six and nine feet tall and include symbolic leaves that represent books, and two dragonflies that will hover over the flowers. ”
According to the Los Angeles County Art Commission’s Web site, lacountyarts.org, the flowers will be located on an outdoor terrace and will be accompanied by vines that wind up through a trellis.
The project will be open to the public by mid 2009.
These jobs come years after a self-commissioned work was completed for the city of Malibu. “Tree of Mystic Life” is located in the Cross Creek Plaza, and while the piece is so detailed and massive, it easily blends into its surroundings. If careless, the viewer’s eyes can pass directly over it without knowing it is a work of art.
“Tree of Mystic Life” is a hand-forged steel tree that stands 20 feet tall and spans 20 feet at the tips of its two main branches. These two gnarled branches are more than the bronze-coated steel that were used to create them.
“The sculpture in Malibu is a work of allegory,” Grochowski explained. “It is not about a tree and was not an attempt to create a facsimile of a tree. It is a symbolic work dealing with the two main aspects of mankind’s existence— the physical world and the world of spiritual reality.”
The sculpture’s purpose is to encourage the viewer to explore the soul and, for Grochowski, to fuse together the physical and the spiritual.
“Bringing about harmony [of the physical world and the world of spiritual reality] is what life is all about,” he said. “It’s about a mystical universe that is accessible at any given moment and it runs parallel to the physical plane where we believe we live. Few of us ever step into the mystic realm because we choose to think it cannot be done.”
For Grochowski, it is the intricate, interwoven details that define the work and made it so rewarding to create.
“The entire piece was made by me. I hand-forged every piece in steel and the sculpture is designed in 11 different sections that slot together seamlessly for easy transport and installation,” Grochowski said. “It is covered in detail and texture. A book would be needed to explain all the symbolism that is packed into ‘Tree of Mystic Life.’”
The artist also believes that, because of the attention to detail and symbolism, “The work itself engages the viewer with an inner dialogue and each viewer will have a different experience of the sculpture every time it is viewed.”
The strikingly large piece is littered with detail. Inscriptions like, “The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong but time and chance befall them all” can be found on the leaves. There is a sword-wielding woman holding a shield with thorns covering its edges.
A turtle has clock-hands on his back that are strategically pointing to the eleventh hour. These elements beg for deeper contemplation.
Grochowski said the inspiration for all the meaning that is packed into his art is God. While Grochowski is a believer, he also holds the open, complex mind for which artists are notorious.
“This art is a passion for me,” he said. “God is my greatest inspiration but I don’t like my idea of God to be influenced by the walls between churches. Christ taught in principles regarding love and forgiveness. God is so far beyond all religion and is not limited to male or female. God is love. God is life.”
Grochowski said he garners his strength from God. But “Tree of Mystic Life” does not, and he took precautions to make sure his sculpture would endure in the moist coastal air. Its strength is man-made.
“After I completed everything I had all of the sections galvanized,” he explained. “Physically, it is a very strong and durable work.”
Though the piece is sturdy, Norman has recognized the need for some assistance with keeping “Tree of Mystic Life” in top condition.
“I am on the lookout for a real patron of the arts in Malibu to help fund the maintenance of the sculpture,” he said.
Growchowski journeys from his home in Crescent City, Calif., to Los Angeles four times a year to keep the work in good shape.
Those interested in helping maintain “Tree of Mystic Life” can contact Grochowski through artmasterwork.com.
04-05-2007