Ernest Carl Shaw
Cluster IV, 1982
Carbon steel
Gift of Emprise Bank
Picture yourself in the Shawangunk Mountains in New York, standing atop a cliff of weathered sandstone, surrounded by trees bursting like fireworks with the reds and oranges of fall, a cool, misty breeze rising from the river below and brushing past your cheeks, the burbling call of the meadowlark in your ears. This scenery provided the inspiration for artist Ernest Shaw’s Cluster IV (Trees).
Ernest Shaw left a career in psychiatry to become a sculptor, but Cluster IV shows his familiarity with modern art. The steel forms may be inspired by artists like Mark di Suvero or David Smith, but Shaw tilts them until they are cantilevered and off balance. How does the diagonal lean of the sculptures affect the way you understand them? Do they seem more dynamic? Do they look dangerous or unsettling?