4The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, September 10, 1987
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Andy Fleishman works on his latest
One of his many projects: a
DTH Charlotte Cannon
creation
bridge created for a private residence
By CATHY. McHUGH
Omnibus Editor
Shetland ponies graze near a small
red barn in a field by the side of a
road. In the shnibs-behind them,
various types of birds chirp, owls
snooze and ax pair of guinea hens
sporadically create a cacaphony
worthy of a whole flock. '
Further back weeping willow,
weeping cherry and conifer trees dot
the surroundings of a small pond
where ceaseless ripples hint of frol
icking fish.
- This peaceful scene was specifically
created, not as a habitat for the
ponies, the birds or the fish, but for
a different kind of animal. For art.
The statues standing in this out
door gallery seem to strike com
manding poses in this otherwise
unpretentious landscape. The large
cement structures dwarf the average
person with their smooth, clean lines,
while others, carved to exact detail,
can be held in the palm of a hand.
One serves as a functional bridge and
spillway for the pond.
It's almost like entering a different
world.
About five years ago. the owners.
Andy Fleishman and Kate Smith,
converted this once swampy part of
their 22-acre property into a sculp
ture garden. They say the pond was
originally intended to provide drink
ing water for the ponies. And the
rest?
Andy Fleishman is a sculptor the
garden his showcase.
"We made the garden for the
sculptures, not the other way
around." he says.
A native of Brooklyn. New York.
it
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DTHCharlotte Cannon
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GARDEN
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Two of Fleishman's birdhouses
with a 1972 B.A. degree in psychol
ogy from the University of Buffalo.
New York, Fleishman moved to Nova
Scotia and began his career in artistic
expression by making custom furni
ture. In 1976. he received the Canada
Manpower grant to do independent
study from the Nova Scotia College
of Art and Design. The first piece he
did was a detailed serpentine front
made of cherrywood.
"Everyone else was making shelves
or bookcases." he said. He continued
making furniture for about three
years before becoming interested in
sculpting..
"I enjoyed making furniture, and
it seemed like what I was going to
do for the rest of my life."
But. after a visit to his brother in
Chapel Hill in 1980. Fleishman
decided he liked the Southern part
of heaven enough to stay.
"Making furniture was just not a
big enough medium for me to work
in any more." he said. "Art was much
bigger and less defined; like music,
it's endless you make up the rules.
"When sculpting, you're expressing
a different thing." he said. "Furniture
making has stricter rules you can
strive for quality, but it's never really
a proper medium for expression. If
you're going to make a piece of
furniture, you should make good,
beautiful furniture. That's a state
ment in itself. Sculpture allows for
a spiritual kind of expression."
"I'd begin with an idea of some
thing like a poem I'd read, and try
to express a specific emotion." he
said. "Each one takes a different
amount of time. Mahogany pieces
take longer because they have to be
finished off."
Fleishman describes one of his
smaller pieces, entitled "In the
Beginning" as a small, round polished
mahogany sculpture with snakelike
lines on the top and a broken up
- structure underneath. "The effect
was a jewel-like piece of potential,
contained power," he said.
-?JraV9.'FJishman-,gr,aduAi(y-
began to work with cement. It was
verysolidand structural to work with
LIKE NO
mm
Sk, "'
wood, but I couldn't just open it up.
Working with cement was a conti
nuation of the wood it took away
the restrictions in my mind."
Now. Fleishman works almost
exclusively with cement. "People still
think of me as a wood sculptor
afthough 1 haven't used it for a
number of years."
He says that most of his sculptures
have names, but he has not named
any of his more recent ones. "Most
were emotionally specific titles ,to
begin with." he said. "But the longer
I've been working the less interested
I've been in specifics than in the form
itself."
Fleishman says that once he has
an idea, he begins a sculpture, and
the amount of time it takes for him
to complete it varies according to the
size and the materials. When people
commission him to do a sculpture,
he discusses the project with them
and they determine the scale and the
location. But he generally comes up
with his own ideas for his pieces.
Fleishman is currently working on
a ferro-cement statue for Meredith
College in Raleigh that will be placed
in front of the student union and the
new art building in late October.
"I've been trying to think of a name
for this one." he said. "The last few
I've done have just been called 'So
and so's commission.' "
For his cement sculptures.. Fleish
man begins with a steel skeleton.
"It's a boat building technique." The
steel and metal mesh provide support
for the cement which will be packed
around it. following the shape exactly,
he says.
Where does he get his ideas? "It
always just amazes me 1 work at
a level that's not the same as looking
at it." he says. "It's not as if I did
it with my rational mind. One idea
usually evolves into five others."
Although he says that people
viewing his art should draw their own
conclusions, he has noticed that they
usually seem to interpret his pieces
along the same lines as he created
them.
. The sculpture for Meredith College .
OTHER
is in the round. It consists of several
curves, with classic lines that are
similar to a Grecian urn, and, in the
center, three separate lines arc
upward before coming together as
one. "Sculpting is very physical. With
this one. your eyes flow with it so
much it feels as if your body is
moving. It almost becomes the
movement of your body."
Fleishman said that the sculpture
is too complicated to look at right
now because the wires and mesh form
complex patterns. "But people often
want me to keep the sculpture's
skeleton the way it is originally."
Before he began work on the
sculpture for Meredith College in
June, he made several carved statues.
"Some artists tend to strive to
perfect one type of a body of work
that they will become known by."
Fleishman says. "But 1 don't feel
restricted by that. These carved ones
look as if they were made of clay and
then a mold cast for the cement, but
I actually carved them as they were."
As with most true artists. Fleish
man is not bothered that in today's
world the amount of money a person
makes seems to determine his level
of success, or that some people still
picture artists as starving individuals
on the outskirts of society.
"Money is touch and go. but there
aren't many people independently
sculpting today." he says. "I work all
the time, especially in the summer
with its longer daylight hours, so I
produce a lot more than part-time
artists. There's the actual excitement
of doing the work things always
seem to be knocking on the door
demanding to be let into this world."
Fleishman also earns extra income
by working as a technical consultant
for The Chemical Industry Institute
of Toxicology. He develops casting,
mold making and filming techniques
for a scientist to study the air flow
through the nasal passages of rats.
"It's fascinating work." he says.
His artistic endeavors have worn
off on Smith, the co-owner of the
recently christened Pony Maroney.
With Fleishman's leftover cement,
she began making and selling colorful
flower-shaped bird baths, stepping
stones with comical faces, and bird
houses. Now she's working on a set
of benches formed in the shape of
people. "I just picked up it by
watching him do it." she says.
Fleishman and Smith say that
although they welcome visitors, they
want them to arrive with no expec
tations of what a sculpture garden
should look like. "They should come
for the surprise, to experience this
whole world of feeling what a special
and unique place this is." Fleishman
said.
They plan to clear out the area of
land behind the pond where another
pond is located.
Anyone looking for a little art. a
little adventure and perhaps a taste
of a whole new. little world can write
to Fleishman at -Rt.-1 Box 203 K,
Durham. N.C. 27705. Or call at (919)
383-7588.