My work as an optical sculptor reflects an eclectic background in science, art, spirit, and psychology. My first aim was to become an artist, which I pursued as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon in the sixties. I took every course for a bachelors degree in Sculpture, without taking any of the required courses. After serving in the US Army I turned my attention to my second love, science. I returned to the U of O and completed the course work for a Bachelors in Chemistry.
I continued this path for my doctoral thesis doing original research at the University of Illinois in physical chemistry where I specialized in studying the interaction of light and matter. This field is called spectroscopy, and for my Ph.D. I built and patented a new type of microwave spectrometer. This instrument was a combination vacuum chamber, molecular beam and pulsed microwave source that analyzed the geometry of hydrogen bonded molecules and other weakly bonded molecular complexes. This spectrometer is now used in over 10 research institutions around the world.
After working for Bell Labs and Digital Equipment Corporation, I founded a sculpture studio in Boston where I produced work for over 10 years using optical acrylic as my medium. Combining acrylic, organic dyes and sometimes water and light, I produced a variety of sculpture per year, from less than a foot to 10 feet in height. These pieces have been installed in corporate settings, condominium and hotel lobbies, hospitals and many private collections.
My approach to sculpture is based on my scientific training combined with the appreciation that science does not describe everything. Science describes physical reality in ever precise detail but what I and many, call Spirit, allows for an even greater vision and therefore a deeper mystery. From this point of view, physical reality is held in place by an unseen dynamism. This is the place where artists derive their creativity. In this sense the artistic creation is an analogy of the creation of life. An artist shapes material, applies paint, forms clay, thereby bringing an object into existence; breathing life into what was inanimate material and creating a new Being. This is a sacred act, and when done with attunement to and alignment with the deeper nature of your soul, it can produce Art that is healing and restorative. Art that is a living object that you form a relationship to, in time. Art that reminds you that there is always more to your life than the surface. This is why optical sculpture is such a good analogy to life. Light moves through these sculptures as the deeper mysteries of existence move through your life.
Terry Balle, Ph.D.
March 2004