Local artist’s “reverse obsidian carving” featured in Chicago art museum for America 250
Bradley Davis
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) – A self-taught sculptor in Woodland Park has developed a new carving technique that drew the eye of a Smithsonian affiliate museum just outside of Chicago.
Francisco Sotomayor is no stranger to museums and sponsors hitting up his phone. His signature piece, a 10,000-pound “American Woman” marble masterpiece, has toured to 49 states. This time, it’s his work with obsidian that attracted the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art in Illinois.
His piece, “The Golden Eagle,” is a part of the Lizzardo Museum’s “Enduring Symbols: Liberty Set in Stone” collection, featured for America’s 250th birthday.
The Golden Eagle is Sotomayor’s 15th piece in his “reverse obsidian” collection. He said that marble, it’s about how the outside light will highlight the details of the piece. He wanted to develop a technique where the light instead comes from the inside of the piece.
Each reverse obsidian piece is a smooth piece of rock on the outside. The carving is instead on the inside, and the viewer can only see it when the light is switched on. When he flips the switch, the light illuminates the carving on the smooth surface and looks 3-D to the viewer.