
“Diora” by Gary Haven Smith - NH State Library
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Telomere
N 43° 12.435 W 071° 32.310
19T E 293783 N 4786958
Quick Description: A swoopy commissioned work in native granite, loosely based on DNA.
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 2/11/2009 11:09:22 AM
Waymark Code: WM5TFE
Views: 4
Long Description:“Diora”, a 600-pound stone sculpture by Gary Haven Smith of
Northwood, N.H., was installed on the lawn of the N.H. State
Library on September 15, 2008. The N.H. State Council on the Arts,
through its Percent for Art program, commissioned “Diora” in 2006.
A curving, abstract form that suggests both a dancing figure and a
double helix, the piece takes its name from diorite, the type of
granite from which it is made. The sculpture’s cut-out center is
covered in gold leaf, echoing the gold leaf on the dome of the
nearby State House.
Smith is a State Arts Council Lifetime Fellow. A graduate of the
University of New Hampshire, Smith has shown his work throughout
the United States, Japan and the Netherlands. His sculptures can be
found in public and private collections, including the Currier
Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H., and the Thorne-Sagendorph
Gallery in Keene. “Diora” is the fourth public artwork Smith has
created for the State. He works primarily with granite, most of
which comes from New Hampshire.