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Talking with a visual artist about his or her work is
almost always an adventure, especially if they're good at
what they do. The best works evoke something beyond summation;
their meanings are mutable and subject to interpretation.
USM Art Professor Duncan Hewitt's latest work promises
to be all these things. Duncan, and his wife, landscape designer
Catherine Hewitt, were chosen from among a field of 45 possible
artists to create a vibrant public space along the campus
side of Portland's new Bioscience Research Wing. Funded in
part with a $18,000 Percent for Art grant administered by
the Maine Arts Commission, the two worked with USM's Dave
Barbour, and project architect Leslie Glynn, to develop their
sweeping, textured landscape and outdoor sculpture. It was
completed in August.
In early July, as Duncan dashed between his studio and
the Connecticut foundry that cast his sculpture in bronze,
he took a few moments to chat with Currents editor Selby Frame
about his latest work.
What is the derivation and intention behind the sculpture
youšve created for this space?
The sculpture had as its source a child's folded paper snowflake.
There are three of them, one hovering above the other, connected
by two staffs. Laid flat, they would be nearly circular, but
folded they provide endlessly complex permutations. I did
some wooden pieces along these lines and I thought it would
be a good fit. They're complicated, with patterns that are
geometric and organic. I would like to think the piece is
going to look beautiful and nutty -- precarious.
How did you and your wife develop a joint approach to
the project?
This is our third time doing installations together: We just
completed the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and did the Bonny
Eagle Middle School in 1996. A landscaper and a sculptor are
a good working combination. I'm generally studio-based, so
this gets me out. We sit down and design together. I tend
to develop three-dimensional models; she works more graphically.
It's very much give and take. It seemed fairly clear that
the campuses need some people spaces, and at the same time,
it is a very prominent site. We tried to combine those two
by sculpting the site as if it were physically alive. We relocated
sidewalks for a more gracious space and raised the ground
plane on the parking lot side to create a buffer. Catherine
has an intense interest in painting the landscape with plants
and she chose a mix of grasses and shrubs. There's a cove
area and a meadow area. Even blueberries. We just hope it
takes on its own life. We wanted a place where people could
hang out.
You've been teaching at USM for 27 years. How does your
work as an artist influence your work as a teacher?
It works both ways. The students keep you alert and you have
to be sensitive to different visions. As a teacher, you work
with students from where you are as an artist, and that changes.
Yet, you have to teach certain foundation issues. Išm an artist
making works and that helps the teaching. I took one of my
classes over to the [Bioscience] site and talked them through
the project. It makes them realize how hard it is. But the
students are very good here; I have fun with them. There's
a lot going on in the art department.
Duncan Hewitt regularly shows his work at the ICON gallery
in Brunswick. He will be part of the USM Art Faculty show,
opening Sept. 30, 2003 in Gorham, and was one of five sculptors
selected for an exhibit of outdoor sculpture in Kingston,
NY in 2004.
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