By Way of Beethoven: Sculptor creates Sonata statue for Design Awards
Louisiana Homes and Gardens’ first annual Residential Design Competition will be held October 5 at the historic Houmas House Plantation honoring the top award recipients in 25 select design categories. The “Sonata” Award of Excellence, which will be presented at the 2008 Design Awards ceremony, was created by acclaimed sculptor Bill Binnings, whose 40-year career has been recognized by local and national museums, galleries, and publications.
“I was listening to a Beethoven sonata,” he explains. “The forms and the lines and the fluidity of the sculpture were all influenced by the sonata, which is why I gave it that name. It is an exclusive piece for Louisiana Homes and Gardens that will be used from year to year. It is a limited edition, and it will be bronzed.” The figurative piece measures around 12 inches high. “I’m casting the design prototype, which will be what the mold comes from for all the editions,” he says.
Binnings’ bronze figures twist in rich, powerful thrusts upwards as if to reach out, while smaller, simple figures blend delicacy with perfect balance. “Over the past 40 years of my sculpture profession, my aesthetic has been beaten, bent, warped, shaped, and refined, but it has retained a constant thematic statement. The thread that has run through my work from top to bottom, that unites it in a singular theme, is the intrinsic dignity of the human condition,” Binnings concludes.
Sometimes Binnings generates a straightforward figurative image, as in the group of sculptures depicting the grace and fluidity of classical ballet or Isadora Duncan’s contribution to modern dance. Sometimes it may be expressed allegorically, as in the grouping that has a scriptural or spiritual theme. Occasionally, the sculptures will become playful, as in the group Binnings calls “Total Woman” wherein he tries to experience the complexity of being of a feminine nature by illustrations. “My expressions of the constant theme are always evolving, but they are always in celebration that we are, can be, and must attain to be the highest of God’s physical creation. To express this perspective in articulate sculptural language is the goal of my work.”
“Great design, art, and music are alike in the fact that they inspire us,” says Louisiana Homes and Gardens publisher Roger Smith. “Each work provokes an emotional response and touches our soul in some way. I am very excited that Bill Binnings created this valuable sculpture for the awards. It will become an iconic symbol that will be treasured among designers and architects throughout Louisiana. It will be a collector’s item,” Smith says. “The casting of this Sonata award is kind of the phoenix rising out of the ashes from my studio because we just rebuilt it from the ground up,” Binnings comments. His new studio is located north of Covington in Waldheim. His previous studio in St. Bernard Parish was destroyed by hurricane Katrina. “My artistic goals were pretty well on track before Katrina,” he says. Binnings had produced enough work to inventory five galleries.
“My studio was open to the community. I had worked with several advanced students as apprentices and frequently did commercial sculpture casting for other sculptors or clients. By August 2005, I had commercial contracts to complete a one-man life retrospective invitational show to produce, galleries that were ‘bothering’ me for new work, three public commissions in final negotiations, a sculpture class for the local art community, and traveling exhibitions scheduled. In short, I had a full slate.” When hurricane Katrina hit, Binnings reports, he lost the studio, the foundry, his house, three cars, his wife’s business, their parrot, and 52 bronzes that were buried under a 23-foot wall of water.
“My wife and I are determined to rebuild. We have purchased an acre of land, and I have been building a new studio/foundry, as well as a new home,” he says. “With no studio work in since the storm, I have only now begun to produce new work after more than two years. Completion of the studio has brought with it a major replacement-of-inventory project, which will require a substantial amount of inventory in a very short period of time,” he surmises. “Though we are aware it is a slow process, we are optimistic and committed to accomplishing these goals.” Binnings says that he will be teaching in his new studio in the future, and that it will be open to other sculptors who don’t have the equipment necessary for their projects. He may be an anachronism as he has no staff and no entourage, other than the loyal friends who hold the other end of the pot on pouring day. There is no artisan rubbing the last glow of life into the final patina for this hands-on sculptor, who does every phase of the production himself. “My wife helps me occasionally and friends help when I have beer and chips,” he confides. “Other sculptors come here, and it becomes kind of a communal studio. For a lot of years, I was working a lot like a hobbit. I would just come up for air. Seeing other sculptors keeps me going.” Binnings, who has a large following, is a tremendous addition to the Covington area. Louisiana Homes and Gardens is honored to have this world-class sculptor as the artist who created the first annual Award of Excellence for the 2008 Design Awards. His artful imprint will endure for many years to come. ✦
