Chicago Cultural Center [Urban Totems - by Eric H. Steele]

Urban Totems..
by Eric H. Steele..
Location: Renaissance Court at Chicago Cultural Center..
My work explores the relationships between man and his urban enviornment and the meanings that emerge from them. It evokes natural disaster and the liminal space between devastation and hope. Man endures, preserves, survives, builds and rebuilds...
- Eric H. Steele..

Eric Steele with his work, Urban Totems at the Renaissance Court..

Eric Steele with his work, Urban Totems at the Renaissance Court..

One of my favourite images from the day... Eric Steele between sculptures, coffee, newspaper..

Details..

Urban Totems..
By Eric H. Steele..
The Connection between man and nature resonate with deep meanings and often spiritual significance. Native Americans and other tribal cultures living in natural settings [forest, desert, plains] typically draw their symbols to reify and express these relationships from the flora, fauna and land forms which surround them.

Modern ubran dwellers have no less meaningful connections to their enviornment but surroundings suggest a far different vocabulary to symbolize and express the meanings of these relationships.

Urban Tetem reflects our hopes and ways of seeing the world in the symbolic language of our urban enviornment just as ancient totems reflect the beliefs of those living among forests and wildlife. In each case the human spirit interacts with its enviornment, which, in turn, profoundy affect man's expression of his spirit..

My work explores the relationships between man and his urban enviornment and the meanings that emerge from them. It evokes natural disaster and the liminal space between devastation and hope. Man endures, preserves, survives, builds and rebuilds...