Title: Sticken
Artist: Rebecca Robinson
Medium & Materials: Hand-carved translucent orange calcite/orange alabaster, a vintage hand-forged geologist's rock hammer, and an Absolute Black granite plinth
Dimensions: 13.24" H × 10" W × 11" D (a prominent vertical tabletop sculpture)
This high-contrast mixed-media sculpture explores the poetic tension among geological time, mechanical impact, and structural force. An antique geologist's rock hammer appears caught mid-strike, permanently suspended within a fluid, hand-carved form of fiery orange calcite. By freezing a split-second collision in architectural balance, the work transforms impact into enduring form.
Gallery Description
In Sticken, contemporary New England sculptor Rebecca Robinson presents a visceral composition in a commanding 13.25-inch vertical format. The work builds upward from a substantial stepped plinth of Absolute Black granite, using contrasting planes, weights, and textures. Diamond-polished horizontal surfaces reflect the fiery stone above, while the back riser's rough, hand-chiseled face grounds the sculpture with architectural strength.
The sculpture's technical and emotional center is the dramatic collision of its primary elements. A historic, weathered rock hammer pierces the stone horizontally; its dark, pitted steel head and rough, oil-stained wooden handle retain signs of decades of field use.
Robinson embeds this industrial element within a substantial, meticulously carved specimen of translucent orange calcite. Shaped into an undulating form reminiscent of living flame, the stone has a glassy polished face and a crest of rough, chalky white matrix. Ambient light passes through layers of fiery amber, apricot, and soft cream, giving the calcite a luminous, nearly weightless presence. Through precise edge control, careful engineering, and an assured command of material weight, Robinson transforms the collision into a provocative centerpiece for a fine art collection.
Style & Composition
- Artistic Style: Contemporary material abstraction, kinetic mixed-media realism, and post-industrial assemblage.
- Composition: A vertical arrangement organized around the rock hammer's forceful diagonal. The granite base provides a strong horizontal anchor beneath the dense, saturated stone form rising above it.
- Focal Point: The high-contrast intersection where the dark, light-absorbing forged-steel hammerhead pierces the luminous cavity of the translucent orange calcite.
- Color Palette: A vivid spectrum of fiery cadmium orange, molten amber, and apricot gold within the mineral, sharply balanced by charcoal steel, aged hickory, and jet-black granite.
- Lighting & Atmosphere: Direct gallery lighting makes the carved calcite glow from within and casts soft violet shadows across the black base, creating a quiet, majestic, and powerful presence
Materials & Technique
- Carving & Manipulation: Fine-tool reduction, grinding, smoothing, and diamond buffing reveal the liquid movement of the calcite's natural mineral grain while preserving its structural weight and enhancing its crystalline translucency.
- Surface Contrast: The glassy polish of the translucent calcite is set against the pitted oxidation of the historic steel, the dry grain of weathered wood, and the mirror-like finish of Absolute Black granite.
- Mounting & Engineering: Precision core drilling and concealed steel tension rods secure the individual components flush to the stone plinth, preserving the hammer assembly'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.
