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Crowds gather to watch sculpture set the night sky ablaze |
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Tuesday, 26 September 2006 |
 Active Image | David Mulvaney | Chief Photographer
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by LINDSAY CRAVEN
Lifestyles Editor
The sky was on fire Saturday night.
The unveiling of artist Nina Hole’s fire sculpture, which began construction Sept. 14, took place in front of Wey Hall.
Hole and assistant, Ann-Charlotte Ohlsson, are Danish sculptors.
Hole is Appalachian State University’s September artist-in-residence.
Hole has been creating fire sculptures since 1994.
She has created 14 fire sculptures to date.
“I’ve always been experimental and I love to try to push the border and
I like to think out different systems that I can build with,” Hole said.
Hole was assisted by a series of groups from Appalachian State, the
University of North Carolina at Asheville, Western Carolina University,
Haywood Community College Professional Crafts and Penland School of
Crafts.
“They have been so great, they have been wonderful to work with,” Hole
said. “They have been so full of energy and lovely people, loving
people. We have had a great time.”
“It has been mostly good [working with the students], we have had
really good crews I think,” Ohlsson said. “To meet the other people I
think has been the best part, of course the end is always fantastic but
the way we work together with others, I like that part.”
 Active Image | | David Mulvaney | Chief Photographer |
The sculpture was created out of J-shaped clay bricks.
Hole has been able to create the fire sculpture by building a kiln into the base of the sculpture.
“First of all, I think it went excellent because when it all comes down
to it, it depends on the clay and I hadn’t actually tried the clay
out,” Hole said. “This clay proved to be really good.”
“I wanted to make a piece that would really stay here and be stable, so
that’s why I chose a form that was really, really strong and so it can
be here and live through a long time so this is my hope,” Hole said.
The participating art students threw a combination of sawdust and
copper onto the flaming structure, creating an array of golden sparks.
Once the structure is completely cooled, this combination creates a series of colors.
The unveiling drew a large crowd with visitors ranging from community members and students to out-of-town commuters.
“There was a crowd from Penland that had a van and they were coming
over, and I’m a potter and I just had to come,” Burnsville potter and
resident Claudia Dunaway said. “I felt it was a real honor to be here
for the unveiling because I have seen a lot of firings but nothing like
this, it was really great.”
Hole has had exhibitions dating back to 1975, with a history in painting and ceramics prior to her fire sculptures.
For more information on Nina Hole and her work, visit her website at www.ninahole.com.
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