SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   PRUDENCE BRONZE STANDING FEMALE NUDE WITH HIP THROWN OUT AND HANDS ON BACK 33 1/2"H X 14 1/2"W X 12"D SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Embryo This bronze figure represents dormant potential.  Like an egg, she is quietly self-contained- sleeping patiently and waiting until the right moment to awake.       SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Achilles (Michael) - Plaster and Shellac   This sculpture began its life as a study from a model by the name of Michael.  I chose this pose initially for the prominent contrapposto stance and its resultant “S” curve.  The similarity to Michelangelo’s David was an added incentive.   The sculpture was created by applying layers of plaster directly on a steel armature with the shellac painted between layers.   After the plaster was set, I carved back into the piece in the same manner that one would carve stone.  The finished surface is the result of alternating back and forth between building up and carving back into the plaster.  The final effect is similar to the look of stone.  The nature of this process is intrinsic to the concept of this piece.  The idea that the outer surface is the result of what lies beneath- the structure of the bones and layers of muscles, become a metaphor for the hidden strengths and weaknesses, physical as well as mental, that we all possess.   The process of carving back into the form - breaking the skin so to speak, creates a crack in the proverbial armature- a glimpse of the that underlying nature.  This sculpture for me was a struggle.  The male form- so alien to myself for some time proved elusive.  I remade the piece several times before at last arriving at its final form.  Hence the title Achilles seemed appropriate. H 51.5"       SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Candleholder - Small Figure This bronze sculpture draws directly from my history as a dancer. A force of vertical energy, her body seems to eject upwards, away from the earth, as she simultaneously arches back- ward and into a spin. Like a small hurricane, she is a vortex of spiraling motion combining strength with freedom in a moment of fluid abandon. 11"h       SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Double Helix (floating torsos) These bronze torsos were originally created as separate pieces, both based on the same model. I chose to develop them as fragments to focus on the idea of movement stemming from the spine and central nervous system. The impetus for combining them came from the structure of the human DNA strand- the double helix. Like halves of a whole, even when separate, they maintain a connection, implied and seemingly tenuous, but magnetically drawn together as they circle around one other. 10"h & 10 1/2"h       SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Bookend - Female Figure This bronze figure, the second of the set, again expresses the idea of a transitional period. Like her male counterpart, she pulls forth from matter. Unlike her male counterpart, she is fluid, evoking the idea of moving water. Like a river wending its way through a canyon, this fluidity is her strength, disguising the struggle under graceful flexibility. 11 1/4"h x 6 /12"w x 3"d       SUSAN ERICKSON HAWKINS   Bookend - Male This bronze figure, like its female counterpart, has to do with transitions, the transfer between different states of being. This nebulous zone has been expressed visually as physical matter or a barrier that one must move past or through to get from one place to the next. Transitions, whether physical or mental, are ambiguous areas, never clearly defined. They create tension. Even as we move forward, there are ties, connections pulling us back to where we were before. 12 1/2"h x 7 1/2"w x 6"d

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