Created for the Omaha Central Library, They Too Have Wings suspends sixteen cast-iron milkweed seeds through three stories of the light-filled Community Commons. The work began with source material from the library’s special collections. It’s inspired by a nineteenth-century stereoscope card of milkweed fluff in flight and the Common Soil Seed Library’s drawers of native seeds.
From those sources, Lee used traditional sand casting to create cast-iron sculptures, enameled with clear blue glass and gilded with gold foil. As the sculptures rise toward the children’s library above, they give physical form to the paradox between lightness and weight, momentary and eternal.
“Everything about these sculptures is true. They look light, but they are heavy. They will last so much longer than my lifetime, but they were made in just a moment of cooling. I made this from milkweed seeds, but this can be anything. It really is in the eye of the beholder.”
Project Partners
Here is the full copy for this space: This sculpture exists because of the collaboration, goodwill, and skilled hands of the cast-iron and metal arts community.
I learned to cast iron from William Rice at Kohler Co. The initial mold design for these sculptures was tested with the assistance of Rhiannon Scheidt and D’jean Jawrunner at an Iron Tribe pour at Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Initial tests of vitreous enamel were completed in an online course with Kat Cole. The mold design was tested and poured at scale with the expertise of Paige Henry and Ed Parrish at Rivers of Steel: Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Pittsburgh, PA, with an incredible crew. Production casting was completed with the crew at Sloss Metal Arts in Birmingham, AL: Ian Skinner, Gwen Kelling, Ajene Williams, Hugh Patton, Adri Hawkins, Virginia Elliott, and Jami Honey. In Omaha, this project was supported by the generosity of Cedric Hartman’s studio, James Franksen, Adam Theede, Dan Knobe, and Jeremy Rech. Dan Adams was critical in helping with initial suspension tests. Fabricating the initial molds and creating the system for moving the work would not have been possible without Michael Hurley. Sandblasting was completed at Keystone Stripping. I could not have physically moved these sculptures without Mark Manhart. Vitreous enamel was fired with the assistance of Cassandra Rebman and the incredible skills of Heather Sona Lasair at the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center in Minneapolis, MN. Omaha Slings pull-tested cables. Last minute loading and lifting was assisted by Michael Griffin. Gilding was completed in Omaha with the hands and good spirits of Lauren Simpson, Caitlin Cass, and Clarissa Weitzel.
