Lee Gass has been sculpting all his life. He carves stone and wood sculptures for indoor and outdoor display and produces bronzes from those originals at any scale. Formerly a research scientist studying wild hummingbird intelligence and an award-winning educator at UBC, he lives, carves, and gardens with his wife on Quadra Island.
In Love and Soaring began as a simple game with a Mobius strip but presented deeper challenges. How to thrust perceptual energy from the earth to the sky and cycle it back down again? How to express a “Mobius” sense and contradict it at the same time?
As the form developed, it acquired a spirit and heart of its own and became a valentine. One side of the sculpture is “In Love” for me, and the other side is “Soaring.” Together, they express the experiential quality of love in my life while I was carving the form.
Soaring soars for me in two ways. It thrusts up, up, and away from its connection to the earth, while remaining rooted to the ground. It also feels ready to take off into the sky.
