Flying Horse Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit

Melanie Zibit studied at Brandeis University, graduating with honors in sculpture and the advice of a professor to go to Italy to study with the masters. There, she learned to carve in the famed workshops of Carrara and Petrasanta. Since then, her award-winning pieces have been displayed in private homes, museums, universities, and been included in publications such as 100 Artists of New England and the March 2021 issue 22 of Spotlight Magazine.

In today’s difficult times, I am inspired to create marble sculptures that speak of the beauty of ancient, classic works. Marble carving is a meditative process, bringing focus because one wrong move changes everything. Arctic Ice commemorates the crucial importance and integral relationship of the Arctic to our global environment. The cascade of jagged edges along the side of natural stone symbolized the melting of the Arctic ice. The sculpture also evokes the beauty of the naturally occurring ice forms–arches, walls, caverns–that populate the polar glaciers.

Arctic Ice was carved from Vermont marble and is placed on a stainless steel reflective base.

Eve Lee Schauer is an artist and metalworker based in Cambridge, MA. She was first introduced to metalworking at 16, as an intern at Stonybrook MASS (Metal Arts and Sculpture School), where she still works. She received a BFA in sculpture from MassArt in Boston.

Eve works in a variety of mediums, including clay, wax, copper, steel, cast bronze and iron, and, most recently, cement. Most of her sculptures are representational, depicting animal and human figures as well as plants. She is fascinated by the rhythm of their forms, the ways they move, and the potential for movement that is evident in them even when they are still. Her careful observation of these subjects is fundamental to her work.

Ready To is a life-size cement dog constructed from cement with a steel armature.

Chris Plaisted was born into a creative family in a tiny New Hampshire town. His father, an accomplished pastiche artist, and his grandmother, an award-winning tinsel folk artist, were both strong influences on him. 

Chris learned woodcarving and metalwork from a close neighbor at an early age. After high school, he studied at Parsons School of Design in New York City before embarking on a 15-year career as a graphic designer. But painting and sculpture are his passion.

His sculptures evoke emotions drawn from his experiences traveling and observing the world. These sculptures are primarily of welded steel construction, but Chris also uses copper, wood, concrete, and other metals. The work is primarily abstract but often includes figurative elements. Composition #2, constructed of steel, is one of his abstract sculptures.

His work has appeared in galleries and in dozens of large-scale outdoor shows across the country. Chris currently resides in New Milford, CT, with his wife, two children, and Leonidas, the dragon.

Myrna Orsini has worked as a professional sculptor since 1985. She resides in Tenino, Washington. In 1998, she opened the Monarch Contemporary Art Center and Sculpture Park outside of Olympia, Washington. Her work is in private, city, and corporate collections in Italy, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, Armenia, Canada, and the United States. 

The idea for A Delicate Balance came about because of the COVID pandemic. It depicts the precariousness of our life on planet Earth. It is an observation that one must not take for granted each moment that we have been given.

Jac Ouellette’s love for metal started as a young child in her great grandfather’s forge in Northern Maine. Later in life, while working in the medical field, she attended a blacksmith intensive at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. She was then inspired to pursue formal studies in art and enrolled at the Maine College of Art. She graduated from MECA in 2002, earning her BFA with honors. Since then, her interests have evolved to include vibrant metal sculptures and colorful oil-painted landscapes.

As a metal sculptor, I strive to transform cold hard steel into soft flowing forms. My sculptures are often feminine with a strong expressive flow. I want the viewer to see and feel movement beyond the physicality of the piece. I want the pieces to evoke a sense of happiness and inner strength of these graceful forms.

Jac’s work can be found in public sculpture gardens, public schools, libraries, healthcare facilities, corporate offices, private homes, and colleges throughout New England. Full Bloom is constructed of powder-coated steel.

Cassie Doyon works in mixed media with a focus on mosaics. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast and in Guatemala. Doyon uses a variety of materials, including natural, foraged, and found items such as sea glass, bone, driftwood, and stone. Her use of color is widely variable, from muted earth tones to bright, psychedelic hues. 

Mosaics tend to be structured and planned; I often incorporate spontaneity and serendipity within my pieces. I am particularly focused on surface design and pushing the boundaries of sculpture with unconventional, repurposed materials.

Much of my artwork is abstract in style and form, reflecting my lifelong interest in tribal art and artifacts from around the world.

The ocean has been a powerful, repetitive theme through most every piece of art I have made. I like to create ‘color and texture memories’ of places I’ve visited over the years, and to explore macro- and micro-environments in nature.

Doyon was born in Gloucester.

Persevere is a mosaic made of concrete, wire, fiberglass, PVC pipe, and ceramic tiles.

Walter Clark is a native Bostonian and image-maker. Although he works in clay, watercolor, and pencil, Walter’s main medium is steel sculpture. Up until the onset of COVID-19, Walter worked and created his sculpture at Stoneybrook Metal Arts and Sculpture School in Jamaica Plain.  

I’m one of God’s paintbrushes. My creativity is seen through my particular temperament.

By Any Other Name is a bronze and steel delicate rose; Flamingo is a painted steel flamingo, a new take on a common lawn ornament.

Will Smith Cabrera considers himself a visual cultural historian and anthropologist of the Dominican Republic, his birthplace.

My work represents dimensions of my people’s intersectional identity. My art is created based on my own exploration of African and Taino Indian history, religion, mythology, ethnicity, and struggles during the Spaniards’ conquest of la Hispaniola, and the daily life of the people that came from that ethnic mixing pot of culture, the Dominican people. 

I focus strongly on the complexity of our heritage and applying norms that are referenced from my memories of the past and my experiences during my vacations and exploring Taino caves. 

My paintings and sculptures are sometimes mythical, heroic, powerful, and always embody my culture. It is this rich culture and history of my people that have led me to research the way our identities have been reshaped throughout societal interpretations.

Mama Tingo is a woman carrying sugarcane on her head. Her face is a mirror, compelling viewers to see themselves in her place, to recognize the connection we have with each other, according to the artist. 

Cabrera now resides in Worcester, MA.

Born in Washington, DC, Taylor spent her formative years in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and the suburbs of Philadelphia. She earned her BA from the University of Vermont and her MFA from Boston University. Her work is in the collections of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Mine Falls Park, and Sias International University in Xinzheng, China. Taylor presently lives and works in the Boston area. 

Colletta Centrale is part of an ongoing series of sculptures in which I gather saplings, carve them by hand, and pack them tightly in the steel structure. Each sapling depends on neighboring saplings to maintain the overall stability of the form. Assembling it is a meditative process; each time it is installed, the sculpture is a little different.

David Adilman is a New England artist who thanks Thomas Berger, another accomplished stone carver who has often displayed his work at Flying Horse, for his help in learning to work with stone. David’s other medium is water since he is also a master hydrogeologist. Nonetheless, it is clear that sculpture claims his heart. 

I remember years ago stumbling upon Rodin’s ‘Burghers of Calais.’ I walked around it for a long, long time. I was mesmerized and blown away by the power of it. I knew in my heart at that moment that I was a sculptor. I started in water clay, then oil-based clay, then started mold making and some casting, but eventually found stone, the perfect mix of courageous action, physical exertion, intense observation, and focused contemplation. Can you think of a better way to spend a day! I have come to love everything about the sculptural process. It’s fulfilling and fun. If I make something that others enjoy and gives them some pleasure, then all the better!

Adilman’s Howling Wolf is carved from Vermont maple.