Australian Red Mallee Burl (Eucalyptus oleosa) stainless steel and epoxy inlays.
17 lbs. 24" x 12" x 6"
Field Conditions: Local Minima draws directly from concepts in quantum field theory and energy landscape physics, where matter is understood as an excitation stabilized within a continuous field rather than as an isolated object. In this framework, structure emerges where energy settles—at points of relative stability known as local minima—while surrounding regions remain dynamic and unresolved.
The sculptural surface articulates this principle through its sharply varied topology. Peaks, folds, and compressed valleys evoke a potential energy surface shaped by competing forces. Embedded steel spheres occupy select low and high points, functioning as markers of field behavior: localized concentrations where energy condenses, reflects, or temporarily stabilizes before dispersing again.
The spheres’ reflective surfaces introduce an additional layer of meaning. Acting as mirrors, they collapse interior and exterior space, implicating the viewer within the field itself. Observation becomes interaction, echoing the role of measurement in quantum mechanics, where systems are altered by the act of being observed.
Rather than illustrating a specific physical system, the work operates as a macroscopic analog of field dynamics—suggesting vacuum fluctuations, symmetry breaking, and emergence translated into material form. Solidity here is provisional: a momentary resolution of deeper, continuously active forces moving through matter.
[The underside of Field Conditions: Local Minima - the three embedded spheres function as false vacua—locally stable energy states suspended within an irregular field. Each occupies a distinct basin shaped by surrounding conditions rather than intrinsic hierarchy. Sparse epoxy marks the possibility of quantum tunneling: rare, localized transitions that may occur without classical permission, yet have not resolved the system. The work remains intentionally metastable, capturing a field paused between persistence and escape.]
Australian Red Mallee Burl (Eucalyptus oleosa) stainless steel and epoxy inlays.
17 lbs. 24" x 12" x 6"
Field Conditions: Local Minima draws directly from concepts in quantum field theory and energy landscape physics, where matter is understood as an excitation stabilized within a continuous field rather than as an isolated object. In this framework, structure emerges where energy settles—at points of relative stability known as local minima—while surrounding regions remain dynamic and unresolved.
The sculptural surface articulates this principle through its sharply varied topology. Peaks, folds, and compressed valleys evoke a potential energy surface shaped by competing forces. Embedded steel spheres occupy select low and high points, functioning as markers of field behavior: localized concentrations where energy condenses, reflects, or temporarily stabilizes before dispersing again.
The spheres’ reflective surfaces introduce an additional layer of meaning. Acting as mirrors, they collapse interior and exterior space, implicating the viewer within the field itself. Observation becomes interaction, echoing the role of measurement in quantum mechanics, where systems are altered by the act of being observed.
Rather than illustrating a specific physical system, the work operates as a macroscopic analog of field dynamics—suggesting vacuum fluctuations, symmetry breaking, and emergence translated into material form. Solidity here is provisional: a momentary resolution of deeper, continuously active forces moving through matter.
[The underside of Field Conditions: Local Minima - the three embedded spheres function as false vacua—locally stable energy states suspended within an irregular field. Each occupies a distinct basin shaped by surrounding conditions rather than intrinsic hierarchy. Sparse epoxy marks the possibility of quantum tunneling: rare, localized transitions that may occur without classical permission, yet have not resolved the system. The work remains intentionally metastable, capturing a field paused between persistence and escape.]
