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Jesús Moroles, Floating Mesa

On view in the East Garden

sculpture garden 2020

Jesús Moroles
1950 Corpus Christi, Texas – 2015 Jarrell, Texas
Floating Mesa
1982
Texas pink granite, stainless steel, and fountain mechanism
Albuquerque Museum, museum purchase, 1% for Art Funds, City of Albuquerque
PC1984.24.1

Floating Mesa towers overhead with three steel poles supporting two slabs of granite. Water pours out of the poles and flows into a metaphorical river during the summer months. The sculpture incorporates different elements from the earth to create a multisensory experience of sight, sound, feel, and even smell of the water on the rock. Jesús Moroles preferred to work with granite over other types of stone that were softer and easier to shape. He loved to negotiate both the controllable and uncontrollable nature of granite in sculptures that considered human relationships with nature. Floating Mesa brings earth, water, and sky into dialogue and reflects on the history, geology, and culture that is unique to the New Mexico landscape.