Garden eels are very remarkable creatures that live on the ocean floor sometimes as deep as 1000 feet or more. Garden eels take their peculiar name from their preference to not leave their burrows and to resemble a field of grass when seen from a distance.

Garden Eels the sculpture, captures that rare sight which is not widely known as these creatures are shy and our understanding about them so limited. Many people will see the work and think about golf clubs, hockey sticks or even candy canes; the reality is that these wonderful garden eels could disappear before we even get to know them.

The sculpture confronts the viewer with the elegant posture of the eels amidst a vibrant display of color broadcasted by the fused glass elements. At the same time,  the color scheme reveals the profound narrative of these creatures tenure in life across the ages. From ancient times long before the appearance of mankind, a time when the waters were crystal clear and nature held dominium (blue eel) to their present state of affairs with the threat of increased pollution and other manmade changes to the ecology of the sea (yellow eel) to their silent  perhaps inexorable requiem (purple eel) if we allow these dwellers of the ocean to join the list of extinct species.

Art in the 21^st century is reintroducing the relevance to life that was present in the cultures of ancient civilizations at the dawn of humankind to the role of art in contemporary civilization. This work is an example of the role art can play in the transitional age thought to characterize the 21st century.

Image by: © Brent Scheneman 2007

The word CUOIO which means leather in the Italian language, was incorporated as a transformally symmetrical feature of the work, meaning that you can read CUOIO from all four sides.

Made from aluminum and leather vinyl designed as a center piece for Cuoios's new store in Naples Florida.

Collection of  Ben and Louise Cardillo

Aluminum, 9' 6" (h) x 5' 10" (w), with a brushed surface finish and a clear powder-coating gloss finish. One-of-a-kind original completed in 1999. On view at courtyard of the Saint Andrew Catholic School in Cape Coral, Florida.

Early Data A

This work was meant to dramatize the transition of Christian interpretation between the millenniums and amplify the symbolism into the third millennium. To that effect I added to the cross two elements or ‘time capsules’ near the base —one for each millennium of Christianity that has elapsed. Each symbolically contains its own history, thus allowing the pure idea of the undiscovered Christ to emerge freely into the third millennium —fresh, simple and beautiful.

The name My Refuge was inspired during a visit by Tiité to Guatemala in 1997 for the filming of the documentary Children of the Fourth World by filmmaker John Biffar. The story features the work of Kari Engen whose undertaking of the education of the children who live at the garbage dump there, inspired the founding of a mission she calls Mi Refugio (My Refuge).