Lenten Cross
by Lynda Smith-Bugge
(Burled Maple; Juniper; Copper, 2003, 62"h x 48"w x 4"d)
St. Mark's Episcopal Church - Washington, DC
Lynda@SculptureForTheSoul.com
www.SculptureForTheSoul.com
 

 
My sculpture transforms nature into works of art. Natural forms from trees within my neighborhood inspire me to create wood sculpture, which invite the viewer to touch and look at both the rough exterior and the finely finished interior of walnut, fruit trees, maple and other local woods. The winding shapes of branches rise upward; holes are filled with lathe-turned spheres; tree-wounds reveal shapes integral to the form; cuts are sewn-up with copper wire; and, balanced connections mindfully bring shapes together.
 
I create beauty from local neighborhood trees. I see them through my artist's eye and want others to see the trees they walk by everyday in a new way.
 
A quote from a Jewish colleague/writer who was in residence with me at the artist colony, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in 2003,
"Lynda Smith-Bugge's sculpture hit me where I live. I knew nothing about her background or beliefs, and there were no religious symbols in her work, yet looking around her studio at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts the first time, I felt as though I were in a place of prayer. As it turns out we come from very different religious traditions, and are each currently in a spiritual space, which is not contiguous with the others. But my initial response to the work was borne out by later visits with it.
 
Here I sensed were sculptures in which the Holy Spirit was welcomed; and the Shehinah, God's nurturing aspect, was embraced -- and embracing. I was in the work a risk to go deep - inside the wood and inside the sculptor. The sculptures are wonderfully unalike, but each reveals the artist's impulse to seek a connection to the Divine, Who, while remaining elusive, beckons us on. There is the work both humility and courage; and, to my eyes, a beauty stretching toward the sacred."