3 Flowers – Tyson Barbera

Tyson Barbera returns to Cloverdale with three new sculptures that have "sprouted" in the History Center’s garden at 215 N. Cloverdale Boulevard. One "sprouted" flower is titled "Channel Number One", which refers to the Direct T.V. dish Tyson used for a flower’s head and added forks for the stamens. The use of a exhaust pipe for the stem expresses the release of the poison that comes from watching too much television.

The second flower in the garden is "Daisy in a Pot". A brake drum was used as a pot and a tall daisy was created as if reaching as high as it could to the bright sun. Last summer Tyson noticed a color pattern in the sky, purple to blue softened by clouds. This inspired him to create "Purple Shades of Summer". The flower head was painted like the pattern Tyson saw in the sky.

These whimsical, recycled, unique flowers created by Tyson are sponsored by Main Street Vacation House at 131 N. Main Street.

One of the most noticeable characteristics of Tyson’s work is that all of the pieces used are recycled, not cut up, changed or manipulated. He uses additional metal pieces to create dimension or definition. Tyson enjoys using an object or metal piece and giving it new life in a form different from the original. For Tyson, "My art represents a new way to inspire people to reuse an object or to see it differently than before."

Photo by Jude Gibson Byers