Artist: Jesús Bautista Moroles (1950- )
Title: Pyramid Bench
Date: 1990
Dimensions: Texas granite
Description: Abstract bench with saddle area in middle and horizontal steps cut into sides.
Location on Campus: At entrance to Baum Gallery, McCastlain Hall
Artist Statement: “I have always worked with granite. I go to quarries all over the United States and countries throughout the world to hand-pick the stones for my sculpture. Usually I don’t have a clear picture of the piece I want to make before I start working on the stone. I spend a lot of time simply looking at the various pieces of granite in the studio, and eventually I can see a shape beginning to form. I just keep looking and try to get a feeling for what it should be. I let the stone tell me its inner nature. It takes time to just look and see its hear. I try and follow the dictates of the stone — by cutting and tearing and polishing, I expose its inner nature. As I keep working with the stone, it begins to tell me what its final form might be. Granite is one of the hardest of all stones and as I’m working on a piece, I feel that it pushes me until the moment arrives when the stone and I agree what the sculpture will be. I read a stone like other people read a book. Since one of the main emphases of my work is the beauty of man and nature working together, many of my sculptures are designed to be interactive — I want them to be touched and rolled and played with. Some of them even make music.” –Jesús Bautista Moroles
