Being in the presence of a “Blessing Hancock artwork” is like standing before a living, breathing entity. The artworks by this Broward County public artist are monumental in size or scope, interactive, encompassing. It ebbs and flows, changes with the light, and its fluctuations reminiscent of aspiration. It beckons you to explore it and understand it. It asks you to play.
Hancock’s work is not simple. Each piece’s complexity is what it makes it so intriguing. The artist has artworks around the U.S: Heart Beacon in Portland, Brilliance in Palo Alto. She has branched eastward into Shreveport, Louisiana and northward to the Calgary, Canada, creating art wherever she goes, and her artwork has now found its way to Broward County.
Nestled in the Dillard Green Space within unincorporated Broward County, among trees, pinecones and a winding walkway, stands a new addition, Hancock’s sculpture called “As One. The sculpture, which measures 11 ft. x 5 ft. by 5 ft., is made from stainless steel, fabricated to reflect feature designs derived from an ancient African writing system called Adinkra, merging two symbols, Adwo, which means peace, tranquility and quiet, and Fihankra which means house, or safety and security. LED lighting illuminates the piece rotating through different colors.
Blessing Hancock was specially selected by Broward County’s Public Art & Design (PAD) program’s PAD Committee and Artist Selection Panel, to create a piece of art that would exemplify the community spirit.
As One’s designs were developed in part from drawings made by students from Dillard High. She also received community input through surveys and workshops.
“I felt like I wanted to speak to the local community,” said the artist, “The area is a rich and passionate mix. [The sculpture] represents cooperation, the voice of youth – how truthful and optimistic they can be. People can visit, bring their family and study it.”
Hancock got her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arizona.
She went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and worked for several years, thinking it would be too difficult to make a living as an artist. But in 2008, she made the switch, opened her business in Tucson, AZ, Skyrim Studio, and has been a public artist ever since.
One theme that tends to run through her pieces is illumination. She creates with metal – aluminum, stainless steel and also works with acrylics, bronze casting, clay, and is now working with glass.
Hancock added, “I started going large-scale when I got into public art. Experiencing other large-scale art was so life-changing for me. You become immersed.”
She spends her time in the design process and then coordinates with fabricators (see blog # 3 for fabricating detail) to bring the art to life. She utilized Gizmo Art, located in San Francisco, to construct the As One artwork. It was built and shipped to the site.
Traveling constantly, she finds it fascinating to meet people, get them involved and represent them [through her art]. “The result is that it speaks to them and so the final artwork can be much more appreciated,” she says. “This one in particular, I found the community to be very supportive.”
Today she lives in Olympia, Washington, When she gets a moment away from work, she spends it in nature, from where she draws her inspiration. “I live in Puget Sound. I look at the water in the forest, watch the light changing, take in the trees, hike, kayak..,” she said.
“I have 10 projects going at any given time,” said Hancock, who did a sculpture at University of Central Florida in Orlando and, more recently, a sculpture in Sarasota, and is about to install one in Palm Beach at a spring training baseball stadium.
What will Hancock create next? To find out more about her artistic work, visit http://blessinghancock.com.
