tom fruin sculpts statue of liberty flame from broken factory windows

tom fruin sculpts full-scale statue of liberty flame from broken factory windows
flame, 2014 found glass, lead, copper, steel, lights 8 1/2′ x 11′ x 6′

when scavenger-artist tom fruin visited detroit a few years ago, he collected a wide variety of broken glass from the floors of abandoned factory buildings. a few years later he transformed this material into a full scale stained glass statue of liberty torch entitled ‘flame’. fruin, who often works with discarded materials says its history is what gives it its depth. ‘this sculpture allows people to get up close to an icon which is normally off limits. the flame was originally intended to be experienced intimately by visitors to the statue of liberty; there is a viewing deck surrounding the flame, but it has been off-limits for over a hundred years. I want to dis-revoke that access and give people the chance to be close to that flame which, more than any other part of the statue, evokes hope and transcendence…I’ve taken the cast-off materials of a broken down economy and carefully hand pieced them back together, much like scraps to make a quilt.’

a variety of broken glass from the floors of abandoned factory buildings comprise ‘flame’

fragments of glass are brought together to complete the full-scale sculpture

exhibition view at mike weiss gallery, new york

flame (detail)

detail shows the character of each pane

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