In the mid-1980's, Lynn Williams, my father, sculpted a larger-than-life 5-piece fragmented female body in stoneware. It included a head, a torso, a leg, a partial leg with hands grasping it, and a thigh with a forearm across it. The complete work was titled "Debra's Dream" because it was based on a dream that his sister had described to him. In the dream, the subject was separated into pieces and scattered in a landscape, with feelings of being lost, trapped, and broken.
The pieces are all very thick and sturdy, with networks of support structures running along their inside surfaces. The limiting factor in their size was the size of the kiln that had to hold them for firing; the head and torso were both about as large as could possibly fit. These pieces have also spent some time outdoors, and they are virtually weatherproof.
The sculpture was displayed in its intended form for a period at Uptown Gallery, my parents' business in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The pieces were set onto wooden pedestals with a thin layer of sand. The two legs stood together, one standing on the sand, and the second buried midway up the calf. I may be able to add photos of this display at some point in the future.
When Lynn passed last year, I came into possession of "Debra's Dream," minus the head. I believe the head must have been sold separately (if you know who owns the head, I would like to find out!). In the photo below, the four remaining pieces are on the floor.
Three of the pieces have elegant standing positions as-is (the torso and the leg with hands both stand upside down). In the pictures below, you can see how we have displayed the leg with hands and the thigh and forearm on a shelf next to the stairway. Currently there are Christmas lights, but in the future we intend to install track lighting above the stairs.
The fourth piece, the full leg, with its angled foot, needed additional support to be displayed in a standing position. In the gallery, it was held by an internal wooden pole (a broomstick, I think) that was inserted into the pedestal. So my concept was to make a very simple base that holds the leg upright with a rod. The hole in the foot is exactly the right size to fit a 2 x 4 board at an angle slightly off perpendicular to the ground. So with a little measurement and a little trial and error, I cut a piece of 2 x 4 at the correct angle and bolted it securely to a 24 x 24 inch piece of thick plywood. Then I cut a piece of threaded steel rod to fit as high into the leg as possible and drilled a hole in the 2 x 4 at a steep angle (again partially measured and partially guessed because it is very difficult to judge the exact angle of the rod inside of the leg). I used threaded rod because I had initially envisioned screwing it into the 2 x 4 for a tight fit, but in practice it was actually easier to give it a loose fit as long as the hole in the 2 x 4 was deep enough to hold it securely. Below are pictures of the assembled base with and without the leg.
In order to determine that the base was going to provide good enough support and not slowly bend or separate, I left the leg standing on it for a couple of weeks.
After proving to myself that it would work, it was time to finish the base. I got out the jigsaw and cut out an oblong shape that I had drawn freehand. The longest part of the base points in the direction that the leg leans, in order to make it as stable as possible with a small footprint (ha ha).
Next I used a coarse grain sandpaper to smooth and round the top edge around the base. I did not bother with a finer sandpaper because the plywood has some deep wood grain that was going to stay regardless, and I planned to paint the board. I really just wanted to get rid of the sharp edge and leave an otherwise natural look to the surface.
Next it was time to spray paint. This photo is after one or two coats.
Here is the final base with the rod inserted. See how nice that wood grain looks?
And here is the final piece from multiple angles.
From the top you can see how the lean matches the shape of the base. The center of gravity is well within the area covered by the base. The sculpture thus gives the illusion of leaning too far but it does not try to tip over.
Thanks for looking!
