Monday, July 24, 2006
‘Take a Magic Carpet Ride’
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For John McNaughton one of the most exciting things about creating a piece of art for the new Rice Library at USI was the opportunity to watch the building take shape, pick the spot where the piece would hang, and design it specifically for that space. With the finished piece, titled “Take a Magic Carpet Ride,” McNaughton invites students to appreciate and enjoy their four years at the University. “Often, college is a wonderful time that we don’t appreciate until we look back on it,” he said, “It’s some of the freest time in our lives, but it can be fleeting, like a magic carpet.” The wooden carpet-shaped sculpture is approximately 7 1/2 feet wide by 13 feet long, including six-inch hand-carved wooden fringe at top and bottom. McNaughton, USI professor emeritus of art, and Fred Kalvelage, USI staff architect and construction manager, scouted locations for the proposed art about a year ago. The library was under construction but enclosed at that time. They agreed the periodical reading room at the south end of the first floor was the appropriate location for McNaughton’s piece, commissioned by the University’s Art Collection Committee. McNaughton continued to watch the room take shape and formulate his design idea as building construction progressed. Large two-story floor-to-ceiling windows flood the area with natural light. Because the location was chosen early on, the wall was reinforced during construction to support the weight of the piece, saving costly retrofitting. Built in two large pieces for greater ease of installation, the wooden magic carpet is characterized by straighter lines at the top and more curves at the bottom, reminiscent of how a rug might flutter as it is shaken or hung. The two pieces were bolted together during installation. The lower fringe was attached by pegs after the main portion of the sculpture was in place. McNaughton achieved the ripple effect with special bendable plywood. A substructure supports the sculpture, which curves out about a foot from the wall at its greatest depth. He brushed on watered-down acrylic paint in colors complementary to the reading room’s art-deco inspired carpet, which has a fan-shaped motif in black and shades of teal, ochre, and sienna. McNaughton completed the finish with spray paints to achieve a misty softness. Further inspiration for the design came from the book Fine Art Quilts: Work by Artists of the Contemporary QuiltArt Association, published by Fiber Studio Press. McNaughton and members of the Art Collection Committee were drawn to illustrations in the book that showed dark lines on a light background and vice versa. Painted in light colors, the central area of the sculpture seems to evoke a light source, especially in contrast with the dark outer edges. Track lighting on the ceiling highlights the piece. “The colors will change depending on where you are standing when you view it,” McNaughton said. At the time of his retirement, McNaughton built a studio at his home, but the new piece for the Rice Library was constructed in the University’s woodshop due to its size. Don Wedeking, a retired Evansville homebuilder, assisted in cutting moldings for the sculpture. The magic carpet is a theme McNaughton has explored in his work for more than two years. Other carpet sculptures, much smaller in scale, were created for private collections or auctions to benefit nonprofit organizations, including the USI Society for Arts and Humanities. McNaughton joined the University in 1970 and retired in 2005. He has received a fellowship from the Clowes Fund of Indianapolis to spend August 6-29 at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. This is his second time to receive the award, which is made annually to an Indiana artist. McNaughton and Kathryn Waters, USI professor of art and chair of the Department of Art, Music, and Theatre, collaborated on another piece of art for the new library. They designed the limestone relief over the main entrance. The carving depicts the USI Liberal Arts Center and a still life revelatory of University life. Evansville’s downtown Central Library also features a McNaughton sculpture. His “Tree of Knowledge” hangs dramatically from the ceiling of the main lobby. McNaughton has a national reputation for creative work. He was one of 100 international craft artists chosen to participate in the Emma Lake International Conference in Canada in 2002. His work was featured on the cover of American Craft magazine in December/January 1998. He is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Several other pieces of his work are located on the USI campus, and his art resides in more than 300 museum, corporate, and private collections. |
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