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| This visual process unveils an aesthetic truth, striking a chord within the viewer which resonates with the individual's intuitive understanding of materiality. It is only through sculpture that an artist can actualize this effect: the silhouette and contour of a piece continuously changes as we move about in the space shared among object and viewer, slowly revealing the correlation between the texture, depth and structure of the artwork. While Mr. Stallings works in various media, the visionary sculptor most often chooses the solid, crisp materials which emphasize the purity and dynamism of his forms: stone, steel, aluminum or bronze. And yet his works defy our expectations of the solitary, independent art object; the polished surfaces of many of his sculptures blur the borders of matter and its surrounding environment. The viewer is left wondering which aspect is visual and which is physical. thus each piece, at once autonomous and boundless, has a dialectical relationship with its setting. It is in this way that Mr. Stallings' minimalist approach to abstraction continuously proves itself to be among the most engaging and effective sculpture available today. |