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Spear Form, Ember 

Spear Form, Ember is a 2002 ceramic sculpture by John Mason. Overall, the piece has an upward angular shape with mostly a smooth finish.When taking in this sculpture as a whole, the idea of a tall tree stump may come to mind. The sculpture is completely covered in various brown shades and tints. The varied hues on the piece provide a lot of visual texture, resembling rusted metal. The sculpture stands nearly five-and-a-half feet tall; just over two feet wide; and is a little more than two feet deep. The structure is square at the base; composed of four thin panel-like sections. The panels are arranged in a gentle, rising twist, drawing the eye around the sculpture. 

The four panels all seem identical in shape, size, and width. Each section is differentiated slightly, only in its coloring. One panel bears a small exception, where “MASON” (in all caps), and “3-8-01 ©” is carved onto the panel at the base. 

The panels are five sided and shaped like flat angular planks. They are longest on their left side. The top and the bottom are equally the shortest sides; where the bottom sides are flat and the top sides angle upward to the left. The panels are shaped in a wide angle by the two sides on

the right. The lengths of the upper and lower portions vary from panel to panel in that the point where the two right sides of each panel meet is not uniform across each panel. 

The left side of each panel is seamed together with the other panels. A faint orange-yellow line delineates the inner seam between any two sections. The orange-yellow line is hugged on either side by mottled shadows of dark walnut. Blotches of the dark walnut color edge along the left side, and to varying degrees along the bottom and right sides of every panel. The walnut brightens into a splotchy rust color around the middle of the panel, then yellows into ginger colored patches more often around the center, top, and sometimes near the bottom of a panel. Throughout, dapples of ginger are surrounded by the color of rust which is freckled in places with the walnut again. 

Though the panels share a central joint, as the viewer moves around the piece, each panel appears to be joined along the backside of the panel before it. The panels joined in this way, may evoke the feel of moving through slanted, yet revolving, doors. 

The revolution of the slanted motion ascends to culminate where the short upper side angles meet at the sculpture’s central peak. Perhaps this central peak is the pointed head of the artwork’s “spear form;” while the “ember” can be understood from the medium’s brown and orange-yellow wood-like fiery tone. 

In Spear Form, Ember one may find themselves absorbed in the various surface characteristics and colors reflected in the piece. Additionally, the sculpture offers an inquiry into geometric movement and imagination.