George Hinds was a recreational sculptor for
most of his life until a recent employment “speed bump”
prompted him to turn his art into a full-time enterprise.
He’s off to a promising start.
Along the way to today, Hinds has been a
technical illustrator at Fiat Allis, a construction worker, and a
coal miner. This native son of Springfield was in the first
graduating class of Lincoln Land Community College and the first
graduating class of what was then Sangamon State University.
“My ability as an artist was evident in grade school, but I
had to work at math, and I liked it. I took a double major of math
and art in college,” he recalls. “I wanted to teach
math, but I wanted to do art.”
Hinds taught math for eight years, but after
his return to Springfield, his zeal for teaching faded
precipitously, and inspired him to concentrate on his first love:
sculpture. His first effort to share his art bore fruit in the
selection of his Sculpture “Geo 301” to be part of the
Illinois State Fair Art Gallery, located in the Artisans Building.
It is only his third gallery display, and his first since a 1989
show in Louisville, Ky.
At age 55, Hinds has found his
“calling” in what the ancient Greeks called the
Platonic solids, five perfect shapes. “The Greeks thought they were the fundamental building
blocks of the universe,” Hinds explains. “They attributed
elements to their shapes. For example, the tetrahedron [four faces,
shaped like triangles] represented fire; hexahedron [or cube, six
square faces], earth; the octahedron [eight triangles], air;
dodecahedron [12 pentagons], the cosmos; and the icosahedron [20
triangles], water. Only platonic solids can be joined together at a
single vortex to create a different solid.”
The basic solids evolved into compound shapes
made by removing portions of surfaces. “Volumes have been
written about these shapes,” Hinds says. Through what Hinds
brands “Intelligent Sculpture” he creates sculpture
based on the platonic solids, created in plastic and copper.
In addition to Intelligent Sculpture, Hinds
has also produced asymmetrical sculptures, which he considers
“models” for larger outside productions, if he can find
sponsors. Most of the models are offered as interior decorative
pieces. Many are mounted on bases shaped as though they are shadows
of the sculptures attached to them.
Hinds has high hopes for the future as he
wades into the local art scene, meeting artists and listening to
those who know the waters well. “Many well-established people
have been encouraging to me thus far,” he says. “I
guess, as far as Springfield is concerned, you can go home again.”
All crafts, paintings, drawings, prints,
photographs and sculptures accepted for the 2005 state fair gallery
were juried in. Often forgotten is the fact that just like farm
livestock, layer cakes and other exhibits during the fair, the
gallery categories are judged and prizes awarded.
Rod Buffington, superintendent of the
professional art exhibit for 20 years, says 81 artists from
Illinois were accepted for this year’s gallery. “There
are 20 well-credentialed Springfield area artists’ works on
display. It’s a very good year,” he says.
“I’m very pleased with the quality and caliber of
artists we have from all over the state of Illinois.”
Illinois State Fair Art Gallery is located in
the Artisan Building, which is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on each day of
the Illinois State Fair.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2005.
