Shiny Lily Swoosh

97 x 68 x ½ inches | 3 pieces of polished brass

Shiny Lily Swoosh is a segmented wall relief in gleaming yellow metal forming a large arabesque s-curve. Graphically composed of hundreds of cutout shapes, the unified silhouette is formed through a jumbled mixture of calla lily formations. Culled from Natrop's previous hand-cut paper artworks, these various organic-looking flower formations are conglomerated into a unified whole. The overall cutout silhouette is achieved by acid-etching brass sheet. The acid on metal becomes the cutting vehicle like a knife is used to cut paper. This process allows the acid to fully dissolve the thousands of unwanted negative spaces delineating its myriad inter-locking forms. The finished piece hovers one half inch from the wall surface. Shiny Lily Swoosh glorifies the fetishized object, the obsession with process and form.