Andrea Stix Wasserman : Public Art: Meditech

Meditech - Kinetic Leaf Sculpture 2003 • Norwood, Massachusetts Below the skylight entry of the Meditech Norwood Building is a kinetic leaf sculpture composed of large veneer beech leaves inside the three-story atrium. Suspended from the ceiling the leaves move with the circulating air currents, continually shifting in relationship to each other. The leaf sculpture, rarely static though sometimes moving imperceptibly, is viewed directly from the third story looking down upon the gently swaying larger leaves below. The second floor looks directly on the multitude of leaf forms at one moment reflecting the thinness of the leaf in profile. In the main atrium the leaves are viewed from below similar to the carpet of leaves in the deciduous forest only above sinuously shifting in space. The stem of each leaf is sculpted out of light-weight copper. The laminated thin birch veneer leaves are vacuum formed in large custom fiber glass molds with an interior core of fine fiber glass fabric for added strength. With these molds and quality epoxy it is possible to achieve complex organic curvature as well as the subtle undulations of leaves. As the light filters into the space the leaves illuminate and highlight the sculpture. Not only does the sculpture reflect the light from above, but occasionally the leaves cast ever- changing shadows on the floor below. The leaves held in their balance like time each moment bring new life and vitality to the atrium of the Meditech Norwood Building. As the light of day reflects upon the leaves, and records the passing of the light, so too does the movement of the piece gently reconfigure itself through out the day.