LIGHT WAVES: These art pieces bend the traditional thought of sculptures

Photo

Artist Sydney Cash stands in front of one of his sculptures.

Photo

"Reflective Chest"

By Rebecca Sloan

entertainment@vindy.com

The sculptures of Sydney Cash are like nothing you’ve ever seen because instead of sculpting with marble or clay, Cash builds patterns and shapes from one of the most ethereal, inspiring, elusive and spiritual of all elements: light.

“People are attracted to light and often mystified by it,” Cash explained. “When they see my light sculptures, they often thrust their hand into the light beam in an effort to better understand the phenomenon that’s occurring.”

Cash’s light sculptures are indeed mesmerizing and surprising and a bit difficult to describe with words.

“This artwork is not tangible. It’s light and shadow — no paint,” Cash said.

To create the light sculptures, Cash embeds designs of reflective silver or copper into a piece of glass and then places the glass perpendicular to the wall.

Carefully targeted lights mounted above the glass illuminate intricate, breathtaking designs onto the wall.

“The light is manipulated as if it’s corporeal,” Cash said. “The sculptures seem to rest in a place between image and object.”

Cash’s light sculptures are on display at the Butler’s Berment Gallery, Beecher Center Wing, until Nov. 28.

Cash said he believes the sculptures touch people’s souls.

“People often can’t believe what they are seeing, and they leave the exhibit feeling struck by wonder and delight,” he said.

Cash, 69, lives in upstate New York and defines himself as a “lifetime maker of things.”

“I’ve been an inventor all of my life with an aptitude for playful discovery,” he said. “Nobody else is doing this kind of artwork, and it’s a great delight to have the work on display.”

Cash grew up in Detroit and has a degree in engineering and physics from Wayne State University.

During his 35-year career as a professional artist, he has dabbled in many mediums including painting, wood carving, traditional sculpting and jewelry making.

“I have always felt like something in my nature leads me to explore the physical world and how it can be manipulated,” he said. “Growing up in Detroit, I felt like I was part of the mythology of Henry Ford — the sense that everyone was a maker, and if you were attentive, thoughtful and courageous, you could invent something great in your back yard or garage.”

During his career, Cash has had more than 40 one-person shows at galleries around the world, and the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority once commissioned him to create 16 10-foot-tall optical panels for the Queensborough Plaza elevated subway station.

One of his favorite mediums is glass, and Cash was inspired to create his light sculptures about six years ago after accidentally noticing the way a mirror in his studio reflected a light beam onto the wall.

“The mirror was at eye level, silver side up, perpendicular to the wall with its long edge touching the wall. An overhead fixture was angled down, lighting the mirror strip, and I noticed the reflected light on the wall above it, as well as the shadow below it. It was the moment of seeing. It buzzed with creative possibilities, and it eventually led to the development of these lightworks,” Cash explained.

For more information on the artist or exhibition, visit www.sydneycash.com.