To watch melted bronze be poured into a cast is a thrilling experience.
In the early spring of 2011, eight sculptors around the world were invited to participate in the creation of a sculpture and monument for Professor Ljungqvist. After a few emails and a lunch in New York between two flights, there were no doubts that we had found the right one in Sassona Norton. Her genuine excitement for the cause and her admiration for Professor Ljungqvist's vision and hard work confirmed a love story in the making (her greeting to Professor Ljungqvist filmed at the lunch is a "must see"). Sassona's artistic energy and passion for sculpting hands were other beams of light that made it an easy decision. A long line of creative meetings, drafts, new ideas, fundraising and problem solving sessions were crowned by a visit at her residence in New Jersey together with Professor Ljungqvist. This was five years after the decision to work together. The project turned into a deep friendship with a strong bond and a determination to fulfill a good cause and vision larger than life. Sassona was finally given the confirmation to get started for real...
Sassona's sculpting reflects her desire to use the human body as an intimate metaphor for our desire to connect, reach out and yearn. Sassona: "My fascination with hands, have become the main subject of my monumental public artwork. Hands express a rich unique imagery. When the hand is flat with joined fingers, it is a rectangle; when the fingers spread out, it becomes a tree, and when they curl into a fist, the hand is a ball. The emotional landscape is even more exciting than the architecture. Separately, in their independence from each other, hands can present extremes of emotions. Together, they become a force of sameness and the ambassadors of touch. Not less important is the hands’ void of identity. It is a feature of strength that enables them, unlike portraits, to represent all mankind. As such, hands, in spite of their figurative nature, stand as universal symbols." See more of Sassona's works: https://www.sassonanorton-sculpture.com/
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Finding Sassona also meant finding Jeb S Wood, CEO of Independent Casting Inc. in Philadelphia. Not a CEO you find in an office on a skyscraper's 56th floor. Nope, Jeb is a passionate artist with a deep love for casting, craftsmanship, high quality, and high morale. Working in a hard-core foundry studio, relentlessly fulfilling artists' wild dreams and visions. Jeb and his staff walk their talk and deliver high-end sculptures worldwide. Seemingly under the motto "Impossible is not a fact, it is an attitude". We look back with a smile to the years we have worked together and look forward to the years to come.
Independent Casting was born out of Jeb S. Wood’s desire to offer artists a foundry that elevates the craft itself to an art. Jeb began his career at the Johnson Atelier, during that time he met many of the smiths that would later join him as he created his own vision of what foundry can be. Today Independent Casting’s work is shown around the world and boasts a client list containing some of the art world’s most renowned – many of whom have been with him since the beginning.
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