The actual installation of The Source really came off without a hitch.  I haven’t been there because of this virus thing, so it’s unfortunate, but from what I can tell, it went fine.  And I really am happy with it.  I’d like to see it personally–eventually.

The Source is kind of a deep piece. It references specific things.  It’s kind of inspired by an opening book; that’s pretty clear.  The roof of the library is also kind of this inverted V shape.  But beyond that, it goes into some deeper terrain.  And I think the title hints at that too.

The Source is in Fuquay-Varina, this town with a strange double name.  But I didn’t know anything about the town, and I researched it. It used to be famous in the 1800s for a hot spring where people would come and get healed in these waters.  So The Source is a reference to that too. 

It’s also a source in a book.  But it’s also the actual piece–there’s a small framed opening, and it’s as if that’s a reference to some source.  The library’s behind it, but if somebody looks through it–it’s just the question, what is the source?  What are we talking about?  Are we talking about a book?  Are we talking about the hot springs?  Are we talking about someone?  Are we talking about something?  Some bigger thing?  And I was very happy with the way that came through.

Also, I’ve always liked lighthouses.  I’m from Washington and Oregon, and there are some great lighthouses. The decommissioned have the Fresnel lenses, these amazing glass lenses.  And I’ve always loved those.  And I was looking at a picture of them, and I started comparing a lens with the way The Source looks, with all these layers that expand out, and it’s unbelievable.  Uncanny.  And it just reminded me of the subconscious.  Because I wasn’t thinking about that at all when I designed it. The subconscious is always at work.  It’s so interesting.

public art, The Source, Wake County