New Leaf



New Leaf by Lisa Scheer


"Installed at the Petworth Metro station in November 2007, New Leaf is representative of her work -- primarily large-scale abstract sculptures constructed out of metal and fabricated sheet metal. Scheer said, "My goal is to have a mixture of really interesting references, oftentimes stemming from the sort of program or the site in which I'm installing the work. The piece at Petworth is a sort of abstracted form, but it also looks a tremendous amount like a leaf, or something very organic and growing, and I do mean to do that because I mean to evoke metaphors of growth and change and seasonal time shifts." 
When creating a public artwork, Scheer asks four questions related to the community where the object will be installed: Who's there? Why are they there? What are they doing? How can my art speak to that? "When I make an artwork in my studio, it can be shown in a gallery, it can exist in someone's home, it can exist on any wall. But when I'm doing a commission, it's made to live in a certain place." (www.nea.gov)

The quote on the poem is provided by poet E. Ethelbert Miller. The whole poem is: "Every leaf surrenders to air/ we dance/ we flutter/ we touch the earth"

I really like the organic feel of this piece, and how it flows along with the provided poem. I read up on Scheer adn found that she seems to fit her artwork with the community that will com into contact with it, while also fitting it to the architecture. I think that this piece flows really well with the people that see it everyday. It give the building a more personal appeal, and almost makes it more approachable. This piece was part of a project funded to "fit public art into the everyday lives of Washington DC". I think the personal feel of this art piece does a great job of doing that.

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