Welded aluminum, repurposed aluminum street signs, and ski resort advertisements · [12’ h x 12’ w x 4’ d] · 2007 · First shown at Saunders Farm, [Garrison], NY

At a scrap shop in Hudson, NY, I came across a stack of old aluminum street signs and advertisements from a ski resort. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. I've always saved and repurposed things, because I can see possibilities in them even before I know what they'll become.

These came with a challenge, though. Welding them would have burned off part of their colorful surfaces, so I attached them with pop rivets and tabs instead. I loved curving the pieces and weaving their shapes and colors together. To round it all out, I hung an orb made from a curved orange street sign from the center.

Gate's first outing was an exhibition on a working cow farm, and the guidelines were unlike any I'd seen. The two most important rules were that the sculptures couldn't hurt the cows, and the cows shouldn't be able to wreck the sculptures. The mandates couldn't have been more fun.

I anchored each half of the arch to a 4' x 4' platform framed in 4" x 4" lumber, figuring the platforms would keep the cows from stepping up and getting too close. I excitedly told my plan to my husband, who once herded cows on a kibbutz in Israel. He laughed and said, "Cows pretty much go wherever they want."

As it turned out, the cows saw the sculptures either as something they might be able to eat (thankfully, cows can't eat welded aluminum) or as giant scratching posts. I braced myself for the possibility that they'd wreck it. They didn't. I designed and welded that piece so well. Soon after, the group promoted me to Engineer, and I started helping other artists make their own pieces cow-proof.

I chose a trellis design because it felt like the easiest way to make a tall sculpture without spending a fortune. It turned out to have another advantage: Gate travels well. The two halves detach at the top and lean against the raised ramp gate of my utility trailer for the trip. Figuring out how to make big work I can move with my CR-V and a trailer has become one of my favorite puzzles, and it's why Gate has been able to turn up in so many different places.

I named it Gate for its arch. When I set it up in the field at Saunders Farm, I pictured it as a gate into another world. Looking back, that's exactly what it was for me. For years I worked in healthcare while making lots of sculptures, and the sculptures exhilarated me and made the rest bearable. By the end of my healthcare career, burnt out and working through COVID, I finally let myself dive in and simply be an artist. It saved me. My purpose in life is to be an artist, and Gate was my first step through.