Night
Train (2002)
Twin bed, sheets, model train with sound component
Side By Side, Brooks Museum of Art
Memphis, Tennessee, June 30-September 22, 2002
My first impulse was to select one of the more obscure works
from the collection. I considered some rarely if ever seen
samplers and furniture pieces, but nothing really sparked.
Eventually, I half-heartedly committed to a contemporary sculpture
that, like much of my own work, combined image and text. But
Benton's wonderful painting was lurking not so far back in
my mind, I guess. The idea for Night Train came in an instant,
the apparent product of a subconscious overwhelmed by the
symbolic potency of dreams and trains.
I contacted the museum immediately, hoping that another artist
hadn’t already claimed Engineer's Dream. Once inspired,
I didn't hesitate for a moment because, as rational and methodical
as my work may seem, the images that I trust and like the
most almost always arrive as unexpected gifts.
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