Portfolio > equilibration

loop Gallery is pleased to announce equilibration, a new exhibition by P. Roch Smith.

In equilibration, Smith explores scale, restructuring expectations and notions of play. He transforms plastic soldiers, skateboarders, Lego blocks, model bombs, tanks, planes and ships by casting them in bronze – a material traditionally used for monuments or grand sculptures. Smith challenges the medium’s historical prestige, casting at a scale that renders the bronze anti-heroic.

Smith's constructions speak to work and play. The small bronze figures support house forms or lift large objects - others move “body- sized” burdens up inclines and ramps – still others are used as wall mounts and brackets. To equilibrate is to bring into or keep in equilibrium, and there is a precarious balance achieved within Smith’s work. At first blush, the Sisyphean nature of the images conveys a sense of futility; with time, the sculptures reveal an honest representation of the integrity of work and the importance of being intentional in one’s efforts.