When local sculptor David Calfo found out that participants in this year’s annual Arbor Aid fundraiser were only allowed to use salvaged material in their entries, all he could do was smile. For the last few decades, Calfo has made a career of shaping the remnants of old mills, train stations and other iconic Steel City architecture into elegant works of art ,and when it was announced that this Friday’s theme – “The Vessel” – would focus on his medium of choice it only took him a few days to find the perfect project.
Any Pittsburgher worth their pop should be familiar with the McBride House. For 158 years, the log cabin on 38th Street in Lawrenceville stuck out like a sore thumb until last year, when three different attempts to preserve it by the Lawrenceville Historical Society fell through and its owner was forced to tear it down. Before it was demolished, the McBride House was in contention to be named the oldest wooden structure in an American city. Even though it fell short of the title, Calfo has found a creative way to keep the house’s memory alive.
Using timbers that the house’s owner saved from the landfill, Calfo has constructed two different sculptures that explore humanity’s inextricable link with nature. A third entry uses materials salvaged from the Beaver Falls steel mill to pay tribute to Calfo’s grandfather and uncles, who worked on the mill’s rail gang. All of these pieces will be available for auction at tomorrow’s Arbor Aid, and you can see a preview of them below. (Click images for larger preview)
Soul Searcher ($1400). “Soul Searcher” illustrates man’s struggle to shape himself from the primordial darkness. From the dark, rough-hewn base, a figure rises into the light of self-awareness. The high-gloss polish makes the wood seem nearly liquid, which speaks to the dynamic physical and spiritual processes at work in what amounts to an act of self-birth.
The Seeker ($2,400). “The Seeker” is a followup to Calfo’s popular “Lone Walker” statue that sold at the “Art All Night” fundraiser earlier this year. Similar to the Soul Searcher, Calfo employs a gradient to transform a dark and rugged foundation into a homunculus of sorts, only now the figure is fully formed. Like ourselves, this figure is attached to nature – literally. As it strides out into the unknown, its face is blank, open to the coming experiences that will shape it from a template into a soul.
Hunky Rail Gang ($4,000). There’s a lot at work in this particular sculpture. A tribute to Calfo’s relatives who worked in the steel mill rail gangs for generations, “Hunky Rail Gang” is fashioned out of old rail ties and timbers from the Beaver Falls Steel Mill. At first, the iron towers rising out of the suspended rails might look like a skyline, but upon closer inspection it becomes apparent that these figures are also silhouettes representing the stern-jawed blue collar workers that kept the mills alive.
Arbor Aid will take place at Guardian Storage in the Strip District TONIGHT (Friday), October 28th at 7 p.m. For tickets, click here. To find out more about David Calfo, visit www.davidcalfo.com