Fabricated of 1/4" mild steel plate and sheet metal and allowed to rust. 12" x 12" x 72" tall.

Published in Archello

Oklahoma City Architect/Artist Michael Höffner has created his first outdoor sculpture - and learned to weld - in response to an invited group show called Out of Their Element/Out in the Elements. The show was planned to be “out in the elements” at three locations – first, at the curator’s own outdoor exhibition space; then another upscale Oklahoma City arts district gallery; and concluding at a rural art college some 90 miles [145 km] away.

Knowing that the art needed to adapt to several sites, Höffner decided to construct a work scaled to meet viewers face to face, allowing it to adapt to spaces made for people. According to Höffner, the goal as an artist was to offer an aesthetic experience similar to a chance encounter with a natural object out in the elements. As an architect, he set out to craft informative details that separate the roles of the parts - the neatly crafted channels stuffed with crumpled sheet metal illustrate the architectural motive of bringing clarity to disorder. Over time, Sunflowers has attained a rich patina, signaling that it is fully comfortable out in the elements.

-Stephanie Pilat, PhD