Jim Felice
Till Death Do We Part, Man, Woman and Tree
On Sunday Morning April 15, I received the news that Dad had passed on. A short time later I looked out the widow and noticed that the male figure of my installation pictured above had fallen in the night. This piece was made for a show at Ward Pound Ridge reservation a few years ago. A show outdoors in the cover of very tall pine trees. The point I wanted to express was that we are all one, Man Woman and Tree, all part of the natural world. The action of that wooden male figure fallen at that moment is so powerful. Dad was the one who taught me to appreciate nature in the most simplest of terms. Fishing was a major activity when I was a boy. Many a night and day Dad and I would be at the Cross River Reservoir casting from shore or in his row boat. And in the past few days since his passing my cousins shared their stories of fishing with him and how he left with them fond memories. In the woods behind the home where he grew up we would walk along a brook where as a boy he and his dog Rippy would walk checking his traps, always pointing out what this bird or animal was. Further into the woods on a knoll we’d sit and rest on a stone wall, sitting quietly, listening to the various sounds of nature. At a young age he opened my eyes to that beauty. On a hunting trip in the Blue Mountain Lake region of the Adirondacks he showed me a working beaver dam, how to use a compass, how to be safe, and simply to be comfortable in the natural world. I think Dad would’ve been happiest if he could have lived in nature, living off the land. So it doesn’t surprise me that the wooden figure fell at that moment. He is resting in peace, his Spirit one with the light of day, resting in Moon lit Heavens. I know as I walk the path of life he will be walking with me.
Endless Journey, acrylic on paper
Red Vessel
Alex’s Gate
Photo of Alex’s Gate by Jim Felice
In 1940 the Germans invaded France. The Comte du Plessix was killed flying to join De Gaulle in England. Liberman had wished to join the French Army but was turned down because of his history of ulcers. After the German invasion, everyone was mobilized. Liberman joined his unit at La Rochelle, only to be told there would be no battle; the french had already capitulated. His father had left for America, Tatiana’s husband was lost in action, and Liberman felt responsible to get her and her ten-year old daughter, Francine to safety.
Escaping to the south with his mother, he was halted by the gendarmes, who said no one was permitted to leave. He circled around and drove back to the same guard, persuading him he had a legitimate destination. He describes the experience as an epiphany: “I learned that in life one has to push a little harder and not take no for an answer.” This became a secret motto, enabling him to overcome many obstacles in life.
My sculpture Alex’s gate is made from scraps of aluminum that came as a result from a Liberman sculpture that I was commissioned to fabricate posthumously. This is my tribute to him, telling his story through my sculpture.
Text taken from the book Alexander Liberman by Barbara Rose
Tweleve Aluminum plates, the beginning of new work for the show Fresh Pop
My studio practice is based on four words: question, seek, discover, and investigate. In asking a question, one seeks an answer that leads to discovery, which demands further investigation in which asks more questions; and the process repeats itself over and over again. And one day I asked, “What would it look like if an axe went through metal?”
The Marx race car in the fore ground I will build full scale so an adult can sit it
