SUMMARY

Jeff Tangen is a metal sculptor from Port Townsend Washington who has been exhibiting for over 30 years. “Playa Flowers” was originally exhibited at Burning Man. The outer three pods of flowers were in honor of Larry Harvey, founder of Burning Man, who had died the year they were exhibited. The centerpiece was separate; it represents celebration and fireworks. Jeff pulled them all together for new meaning here in the Sculpture Forest. Look for details including old tools, metal machine parts, railroad light lenses, and hard disks from a mainframe computer.  Playa Flowers reach up to catch and bend the light from the opening within the forest canopy above.

ABOUT THE SCULPTURE

Jeff has always seen beauty and functionality in objects. Growing up, he used his imagination to make toys out of objects that he would find. As he got older, Jeff liked putting found objects together to make larger and more complicated toys. These assemblages got bigger over time and progressed from functional toys to creative art pieces. Playa Flowers was originally exhibited at Burning Man.  The outer three pods of flowers were in honor of Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man, who had died the year the main flowers were exhibited.  The centerpiece was originally created separately. It represents celebration and fireworks.  Jeff then saw a way to tie them all together, both literally and figuratively.  Playa Flowers now has new meaning its new home in the Sculpture Forest. Look for the details in the parts used, including old tools, metal parts, lenses, and disks from mainframe computers.

ABOUT THE SCULPTOR

Jeff has been making art pieces for public display and sale for the last 30 years. Early pieces were fairly small and tended to be whimsical and slightly functional. Weather vanes were a favorite for a period, but then he transitioned to larger metal pieces.

His larger steel pieces have been shown at public art displays. For example, Wenatchee and Puyallup have shown his work in juried art exhibits. Since 2012, Jeff has shifted from those types of shows to instead focus his creative energies and time on projects for Burning Man.