Dedicant 11

Howard Ben Tré’s sculptures are inspired by elements of architecture and industry, such as columns, heavy stone fragments, ancient monoliths, and machine parts. In Dedicant 7 and Dedicant 8, a visual tension is created between the shapes of the sculptures, which are blocky and architectural, and their textured surfaces and luminous colors. A gilded base, as well as bars of carved and gilded lead inserted into the glass mass, transforms these sculptures into altarlike monuments. A sense of ritual also may also be perceived in Dedicant 11, a large, mysterious vessel that is influenced by the monumental stone urns of ancient Greece and Rome.