The Walking Figure - Westhampton, New York. - Silhouette Public Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Donald Baechler has been searching since 1989 for ways to transport the elegantly awkward protagonists of his paintings and drawings into three dimensions. His sculptural endeavors have evolved quietly from the charming to the gawkily heroic. Initially, the artist labored to depict trees, vegetables and flowers, venturing occasionally into the realm of the human figure. Around 2003, he found his muse, so to speak, in one of his drawings of a charming young lady.

His “Walking Figure,” first constructed as a papier-mâché model, is a richly textured female form in mid-stride, whose spindly arms and legs jut out from her diamond-shaped body. Her expression betrays contented determination-like a young woman scurrying toward a rendezvous with a new boyfriend or darting off to a vacation spot. After casting 10-foot bronze versions that found homes on sidewalks and at shopping centers, Baechler was commissioned about five years ago by New York real estate developer Rechler Equity Partners, the developer of an industrial park at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., to create a 30-foot, 5,000-pound aluminum version. It now adorns a traffic circle at the airport. Since Baechler’s work has almost always been shaped in some form by his travels to distant ports, one can’t help but feel the sculpture’s location to be poetically appropriate.

The “Walking Figure” was installed in early June 2014. (source) (visit link)

Title of Piece: Walking Figure Artist: Donald Baechler Material/Media: Aluminum Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Francis S. Gabreski Airport Web link(s) for additional information: [Web Link]

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