LA ART SHOW 2024

Carrara Marble

44”h x 32”w x 24”d, 2023

Artist Statement

Our life is built on our intentions and the decisions we make, but also formed by our circumstances, serendipity and misfortune. We constantly strive for an existence that has balance - to have goals but also enjoy the moment. This creates a certain tension, with everything held together by an ephemeral invisible energy, always on the verge of falling apart.

The blocks are a metaphor for how each of our unique lives is built. They are held together by a ribbon representing how fragile and precarious is the life that we have created. This sculpture is the second in a series. In the first, “Existension”, the perfect balance and tension was attained, if only for the moment. Here, that balance has been lost and the blocks are in the process of crashing down.

Carrara marble

37"h X 17"w X 10"d, 2012

Artist Statement

I wanted to symbolize how we each reach and strive for goals in our lives and how there is always that crux point where we either succeed or fail. I was trying to create the feeling of an old-fashioned spinning top that is just at the point where it starts to lose momentum, and the point kicks out at the bottom. And so it is the idea of all of this energy spinning up from an abstract shape at the bottom into a figurative hand at the top, reaching for a goal. I added the ribbon to help create movement and add drama and interest (and to see if I could technically pull off making a very thin translucent ribbon in stone without it breaking!)  mainly to make the sculpture more interesting and to see how thin I could get the marble without breaking it. The ribbon can also be seen to symbolize a ribbon that is often given out as a prize in a competition.

— Doug Thielscher

Carrara marble

17"h x 28"w x 18"d, 2009

Artist Statement

The contents of the bundle are purposefully vague. It is something living, but something that is not totally ok or normal (signaled by the protruding "digit," which is out of proportion with what is inside.) It is meant to be a commentary about how if somebody is a bit different or out of the mainstream, society tends to treat him or her harshly.

— Doug Thielscher

Red Persian travertine, bronze, wood, resin, stainless steel, paint

35”h x 13”w x 21”d, 2016

Artist Statement

Horses have been a classic and abiding theme for artists throughout history. While they are certainly beautiful and majestic animals, I admit to being a bit baffled at the insistence of artists to continue to render the horse, mostly in a straightforward and realistic way. I felt compelled to join the herd and attempt a horse.

This piece is an homage to many of my favorite artists. I have created a collage of forms and materials, with each component being an original shape but done in the style and material in which the artist worked. The artists include Henry Moore, Brancusi, Dali, Tony Cragg, Mondrian, Rodin, Francis Bacon, Giacometti, Alexandros of Antioch, Anish Kapoor, and….me!

There is a hidden message in the melting clock, referring to Dali’s penchant for self-promotion. (I don’t want to point this out and am curious who, if anybody, will pick up on it.) The body of the horse and base are cast in polyester resin. The other materials include wood, bronze, stainless steel, red travertine, and paint. (This piece can also be made in bronze.)

— Doug Thielscher

Carrara Marble

34”h x 15”w x 7”d, 2024

Artist Statement

This piece is centered around the idea that we sometimes try so hard at things that we essentially tie ourselves into a knot.  The clenched fists are meant to convey that intense effort.

The title refers to the idea that sometimes we will go to great lengths - try to “move heaven and earth” - in pursuit of our goals. We reach for the sublime only to be dragged down by earthly limitations.

— Doug Thielscher

Red Persian Travertine

42"h x 13"w x 16"d, 2008

Artist Statement

This sculpture is based on the ancient story of the Tower of Babel. The people of Shinar, all speaking one language, were well organized and determined to build a tower that would reach to the heavens. God was not pleased by this hubris and act of defiance. He caused these people to speak many languages so they could no longer communicate and then scattered them around the earth.The red Persian travertine from which the sculpture is carved was quarried from the exact same area where this legend took place.

The title is a play on words symbolizing the confusion of tongues. The piece is also meant to be a larger commentary on the hubris and lack of communication in modern society. I love the theme of hubris leading to eventual downfall and this is the story of Babble. In a larger sense, the theme of communication is timeless and lack of it leads to so many problems in our modern world. The people building the Tower were not able to communicate and that is why the tower fell. It’s a metaphor for what happens every day - in relationships, in business, in politics, and with world leaders.

— Doug Thielscher

Bronze

9"h x 9"w x 9"d, 2012

Artist Statement

The Id is the part of our personality that is present from birth. It is our unconscious and contains our basic instinctual drives. The Id is regarded as "the great reservoir of libido," the instinctive drive to create — the life instincts that are crucial to pleasurable survival. Tragically, I feel that over time the Id is slowly eroded or suppressed by our parents, culture, and society, gradually forming and shaping us. Whether while creating a sculpture or not, I am constantly working hard to try to tap into my "Id" and break out of the "box" that has formed around me over the past 59 years.

— Doug Thielscher

Carrara marble

18"h x 19"w x 12"d, 2005

Artist Statement

“...two Florentine politicians who were enemies of Dante..."

This sculpture is based on the Inferno, the first book in Dante’s famous trilogy. The scene takes place in the Ninth Circle (or the “Pit”), which is at the very center of Dante’s Hell and is reserved for only the most egregious sinners: those who have committed sins of betrayal.

In the Inferno, Dante assigned punishments to the offenders that embodied their various crimes. Based on this idea, I created a story of two Florentine politicians who were enemies of Dante. They betrayed their city through lies and deception while outwardly pretending to be its guardians. In other words, they are “two-faced.” Therefore, their punishment is for their two faces to be attached in as painful a way as possible for all of eternity.

— Doug Thielscher

Bronze

18"h x 13"w x 17"d, 2012

Artist Statement

For everybody who has experienced heartbreak of any kind, this piece tries to convey that feeling. This piece was created while I was going through a divorce. Interestingly, “broken heart syndrome” is an actual medical condition caused by extreme stress, often the death of a loved one.

— Doug Thielscher

Bronze

37”h x 20”w x 7”d, 2016

Artist Statement

This wall sculpture challenges the notion that justice is blind. How each of us fails or succeeds in this world has much to do with pure luck. Was I born in a parched village in a remote and poor part of Africa or to white, educated parents in a developed country?... At the same time, the world economic system is anything but fair. Educational opportunities are not the same for everyone, which largely determines one's socioeconomic status (along with race, gender, and social connections.) Lady Justice’s blindfold has been pulled up, and she is winking conspiratorially at the hand with the money in it, representing all of the advantages in our society (e.g., money, power, education, being white, being male, having powerful connections.) Those with all these advantages continue to consolidate wealth and power, generation after generation. The hand without these advantages remains empty. That’s the way it just is.

— Doug Thielscher

Carrara marble

19"h X 12"w X 15"d, 2011

Artist Statement

Being on the cusp of turning 50, no doubt, was a catalyst for creating this piece. I wanted to address head-on the issue that makes us so different from every other living creature that we are aware that we age and we know that we will die. This causes us to live our lives very differently than if we were not aware of this fact. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Buddhist, atheist, or whatever! My main intention with this sculpture was to give enough information so that people could pick up on the aging theme.

But most importantly, once they get it, I am interested in the very different reactions based on what the viewer "brings" to the piece and how they feel about aging and their own impending death. For me, the power of the piece comes from this "mirror" effect. The reason I chose a woman instead of a man is that our society so much values youth and beauty in females and therefore, I can imagine that the aging process can be much more difficult for women.

— Doug Thielscher