New Orleans Elegy

New Orleans Elegy, 2006, Bronze over steel armature, 3"x38"x30"

New Orleans Elegy is based on a map published by the New York Times that described the extent of flooding after Hurricane Katrina, September 2005. Steel wires were woven into streets that loosely resemble New Orleans. Hot wax was poured over the armature, so that the city became "flooded" with growing stalagmite shapes, and the resulting steel-and-wax sculpture was cast in bronze.

Bronze and steel react to one another, causing galvanic corrosion. Over many years (depending on environmental factors), the steel streets still embedded in this sculpture will corrode away, leaving an empty place where they once were and a permanent bronze record of the water itself.