Department of Art

Sea Form

Artist: Hugh Lassen, Maine
Buchanan Alumni House Courtyard and South Garden

Sea Form, carved from polished Monson Slate by Hugh Lassen, reflects the artist’s desire to “create vital, life-enhancing forms.” Lassen’s abstract works allow him to leave unstated “the subtle, quiet forces that inspire us,” and the sensuality of slate allows him the creativity he desires. His other sculpting materials include white pine and basalt. Be sure to run your hands over this lovely piece, the first of the four to be placed.

Sea Form is one of four sculptures donated to the Buchanan Alumni House in honor of Nathaniel “Nat” Diamond, who — at age 43 — graduated from UMaine (’63). These approachable pieces have been carefully and thoughtfully integrated into the South Gardens of the Alumni House, allowing each work to stand on its own merits while also creating interest throughout the gardens. The pieces are of similar scale and complement one another in form and hue. Each piece was created by a sculptor based in Maine and has a plaque indicating its donor.

Composition Elements

Artist: Kazumi Hoshino, Maine and Japan
Lobby, New Balance Student Recreation Center, Hilltop Road

Composition Elements, created of Peruvian granite, sits on a sculpted basalt base in a location where thousands of visitors to UMaine’s New Balance Student Recreation Center can enjoy it on a regular basis. The piece is part of the sculptor’s “Composition Series,” which uses the circle and ovoid forms to suggest harmony, with no beginning or end. Comments about and reviews of Hoshino’s work speak of undulating curves and unadorned surfaces and note that her forms evoke motherhood as a result of her sculpted encircling shapes. This sculpture, installed in 2017, was the third piece created through the Littlefield Gallery’s Sculptor-in-Residence Program. Hoshino’s work can be found both statewide and internationally.

Mina

Artist: Andreas von Huene, Maine
Lobby, past Miller’s Café and near single elevator, Collins Center for the Arts, Flagstaff Road

Sculpted from red-hued granite, von Huene’s polished work with its dramatic presence is modeled on the countenance of a teenage niece. Well known for having pieces in both private collections and public spaces, von Huene, with a background that includes engineering, often pushes the boundaries of how sculptures are positioned in space. Created as a tall, freestanding stele, MINA is no exception. With the linkage of steles to ancient cultures, the Collins Center — with its focus on the arts and as a home to the Hudson Museum — is an ideal location for MINA. The sculpture is the second piece created through the Littlefield Gallery’s Sculptor-in-Residence Program.

Inanna

Artist: Mark Herrington, Maine
Buchanan Alumni House Courtyard and South Garden

Inanna is the work of Mark Herrington, who speaks of the stones he works with as being “a gift of geological time.” With Inanna suggestive of the female form, a connection to the Sumerian goddess Inanna (or Istar) comes to mind. Herrington was the first artist in UMaine’s Artist-in-Residence Program sponsored by Winter Harbor’s Littlefield Gallery (see his piece Tec.ton.ic). Herrington’s 2009 Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium piece is in Franklin, Maine.

Inanna is one of four sculptures donated to the Buchanan Alumni House in honor of Nathaniel “Nat” Diamond, who — at age 43 — graduated from UMaine (’63). These approachable pieces have been carefully and thoughtfully integrated into the South Gardens of the Alumni House, allowing each work to stand on its own merits while also creating interest throughout the gardens. The pieces are of similar scale and complement one another in form and hue. Each piece was created by a sculptor based in Maine and has a plaque indicating its donor.

Tec.ton.ic

Artist: Mark Herrington, Maine
Lawn across Flagstaff Road from Collins Center for the Arts, behind Sculpture Studio

Installed in 2015, Tec.ton.ic is the first piece created during UMaine’s Littlefield Gallery (Winter Harbor, Maine) Sculptor-in-Residence Series. Upon completion of this granite sculpture, 80 photos of it were taken and — using photogrammetry — 3-D models printed by the university’s Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center (IMRC). Ultimately these models will allow Herrington’s design to be used in glass, aluminum and bronze castings. The sculpture’s design and name, enhanced by the artist’s choice of igneous rock, evoke a sense of the Earth’s tectonic plates in motion.