Title: In a Whirl
Artist: Rebecca Robinson
Medium & Materials: Hand-carved translucent white Italian alabaster, an antique cast-iron industrial gear, and a polished walnut gallery plinth
Dimensions: 12" H × 7" W × 7" D (a prominent vertical tabletop sculpture)
This contemporary mixed-media sculpture explores the tension between mechanical rigidity and organic fluidity. A heavy, weathered industrial gear supports a rising, vortex-like form of hand-carved white alabaster. Curving upward like trapped smoke or a localized whirlwind, the stone transforms a rugged factory component into a composition of graceful, kinetic balance.
Gallery Description
In a Whirl, contemporary New England sculptor Rebecca Robinson creates a highly tactile composition in a balanced 12-inch vertical format. The work rises from a substantial square walnut plinth, polished to a rich satin sheen that highlights its deep espresso and chocolate-brown grain. Permanently inset into the base is a historic cast-iron gear whose pitted surface and amber-brown oxidation reflect decades of industrial use.
From the center of the mechanical ring rises the sculpture’s technical focal point: a twisting tower of hand-carved white alabaster. Robinson shapes the mineral into fluid, flame-like petals and interlocking vertical folds that evoke an active vortex.
Ambient gallery light filters through the alabaster’s milky-white crystalline matrix and soft ivory veining, giving the stone a luminous, nearly weightless presence. Through precise edge control, careful engineering, and an assured command of material weight, Robinson transforms this three-dimensional study into a powerful, meditative centerpiece for a fine art collection.
Style & Composition
- Artistic Style: Contemporary material abstraction, kinetic mixed-media realism, and post-industrial assemblage.
- Composition: A vertical, totem-like arrangement built on a centered axis. The heavy, jagged gear forms a horizontal foundation that frames and anchors the spiraling stone canopy above.
- Focal Point: The high-contrast junction where the dark, light-absorbing gear teeth cradle the lower folds of the luminous white alabaster vortex.
- Color Palette: A refined neutral spectrum of milky alabaster white, soft cream, and silver-gray mineral highlights, contrasted with deep espresso-charcoal iron and a warm chocolate-walnut base.
- Lighting & Atmosphere: Direct gallery lighting makes the carved alabaster folds glow from within and casts soft violet shadows across the wood plinth, creating a quiet, majestic, and powerful presence.
Materials & Technique
- Carving & Manipulation: Fine-tool reduction, grinding, smoothing, and diamond buffing shape the brittle white alabaster into fluid, multi-tiered twists that resemble silk or moving liquid while minimizing the stone’s apparent weight.
- Surface Contrast: The glassy polish of the translucent stone is set against the raw, pitted oxidation of the historic iron and the deep, light-reflective grain of the polished walnut.
- Mounting & Engineering: Precision core drilling and concealed internal steel rods secure the components flush to the walnut plinth, preserving the sculpture’s balanced, floating appearance without visible adhesive.
Inventory Status: Available for purchase online or in the gallery.
Shipping / Pickup: Shipping is available securely packaged with professional archival materials, insured, and shipped globally; complimentary local pickup is also available at our 23 North Main Street gallery.
