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Time Machine/Self Portrait

12"W x 16"D x 20"H, 1995

A good portrait doesn't just show who the person is. It also suggests how they got there, why they are the way they are. A time machine would be a good way to discover that. This sculpture goes back through the layers, the strata, of my past, in reverse chronological order.

The bottom element, in gold leaf, is an Egyptian sarcophagus. Also shown is the Classical period. I don't at all think I had past lives--it's not as literal as that. But the stiff, formal portrayal of the body in Egyptian art gave way to the hyper-realistic approach of the Greeks and Romans. The top, silver piece brings to mind the "transformation chambers" of a 1950's sci-fi movie, which is what time is, anyway. The figure inside, cast in the age-old lost wax process, is representational, but abstract.

The structure of this sculpture is marbleized, as a bank or library--both are repositories, where things are guarded, preserved, and organized.