La Luna
LARS WIDENFALK
A partnership with the Newport News Green Foundation, their Chatham Trail provides a peaceful green space to connect with nature in the center of a busy environment. Chatham Trail’s large pond is surrounded by a stone dust walking trail, benches, and signature landscaping. La Luna brings a museum-quality art experience to the park.
Swedish sculptor Lars Widenfalk has spent his life carving. He started as a very young boy making wooden figurines in northern Sweden on summer vacations. His brother, a geologist, and father, a minister, sparked dual interests in stone and religious ceremonies, coalescing in degrees in archaeology and art at Uppsala University in Sweden, and further sculpture training at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in Norway.
Widenfalk’s archaeological interest is reflected in his work. He prefers stone, a material that suits his subject matter best. While he often carves in Swedish granite, La Luna was carved in Pietrasanta, Italy, out of Carrara marble, another place and material important to him. His sculptures appear as recently excavated, ancient artifacts: pieces of ruins. Ruins suggest what might have been in the distant past, but do not provide concrete answers.
A similar quality of mystery and suggestion imbues Widenfalk’s work. La Luna’s eyes are closed but her face contemplative, basking. The expression on her face is peaceful, the work itself slightly mysterious. Who is she? While “la luna” means moon in Italian, Widenfalk isn’t necessarily personifying the moon, but indicating a feminine, remote, and benevolent presence that seems timeless.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
LARS WIDENFALK
Lars Widenfalk has participated in over 100 solo and group exhibitions in Sweden, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates. His work is in museums and public art collections throughout Scandinavia, including the Swedish State Art Council, Göteborg’s Art museum, Sundsvalls Museum and House of Parliament in Sweden, the Norwegian Arts Council and Contemporary Modern Museum in Norway.
Click here for a fascinating video of Widenfalk at work.
Artist: Lars Widenfalk
Details: Carrara marble, 5’ tall. Made in Pietrasanta, Italy, at Studio SEM. Installed 2021.
Site: Chatham Trail, a Newport News Green Foundation property at the intersection of Chatham Dr. and Bland Blvd.
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