Her Secret is Patience
In Downtown Phoenix, it’s natural for your attention to travel to the large figure in the center of Civic Space Park. The figure “floats” in the air for all who pass by to see.
Mostly unknown to the average eye, the giant net is exuberant with color. In the day, the object is simplistic. At night, “Her Secret is Patience” becomes complex and striking.
Little known to all, a story exists behind this Phoenix art piece.
Her description writes:
“Her Secret is Patience, the 145-ft-tall aerial sculpture in Phoenix, Arizona, is a new civic icon hailed for contributing to the revitalization of downtown. Suspended above the new 2-city block Civic Space Park, the sculpture is monumental yet soft, fixed in place but constantly in motion, it dances gently in the air, choreographed by the flux of desert winds.
The large 3-dimensional multi-layered form is created by a combination of hand-baiting and machine-loomed knotting, and is the result of a collaborative effort with an international team of award-winning aeronautical and mechanical engineers, architects, lighting designers, landscape architects, and fabricators. This work redefines the ‘art space,’ by bringing viewers eyes upwards to the sky, focused on a new celestial object.
During the day, the sculpture hovers high above heads, treetops, and buildings. The sculpture creates what the artist calls “shadow drawings,” which she says are inspired by Phoenix’s cloud shadows that captivated her from the first site visit.
At night, the illumination changes color gradually through the seasons. The goal in selecting the colors is to provide residents some small climate relief through color, adding cool hues in summer, and warm tones in winter. The lighting design also changes what portion of the sculpture is illuminated, leaving parts obscured in mystery, much like the phases of the moon.
The artist was inspired by the region’s distinctive monsoon cloud formations and the shadows they cast, in addition to forms found in desert flora and the local fossil record. The title quotes American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote, ‘Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.”
Clearly, “Her Secret is Patience” is not only an architectural art piece, but it represents a powerful meaning. In relationship to its description, the display‘s environment is fitting: fast-paced and sometime more or less “chaotic.” Although the sculpture seems to blend in with the nature of Downtown, when you look up, it’s a visual reminder to keep moving, but stop and appreciate the finer (and beautiful) things in life.
