The 2014 summer/fall exhibition at The Fields Sculpture Park at OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, New York, featured Professor Celeste Roberge’s sculpture, Chaise Gabion (Edition 6/10). The piece will be on loan for one year on the beautiful grounds at OMI along with their extensive collection of contemporary sculpture.
Chaise Gabion is a waterjet cut, tig welded, fabricated stainless steel chaise lounge filled with black river stones. It measures 24” x 72” x 27” and is fully functional. “I designed the functional chaise lounge after years of working with antique Victorian chaises in the STACKS series of sculptures where I embedded the furniture in thousands of pounds of stone,” Roberge said. “With Chaise Gabion, the stone fills the sculptures rather than surrounds it.”
Roberge's artist statement defines the word gabion, which comes from the Italian “gambionne”, translating to mean “big cage.” In civil engineering, a gabion is the metal netting that keeps stones on a steep slope from sliding onto the road. In French, “gabion” is a two-handled basket used for carrying agricultural products or used in dredging rivers. “I use the concept and structure of the gabion in both my Cairn series and in the designed stainless steel furniture series.”
Roberge was invited to exhibit Chaise Gabion by Nicole Hayes, curator at The Fields, who had seen her work 12 years earlier another gallery in New York City.
The sculpture was shipped from Maine and installed along a trail by a small pond over the course of two days.
For more information on Roberge’s work, visit www.celesteroberge.com.
