Elyn Zimmerman

Portal Lethe, 1991, was one of the first sculptures I made that was not part of a public art project. For over fifteen years I’d worked exclusively on large scale commissions for public spaces. The desire to do work that was more focused, personal and contemplative led to a group of sculptures that shared certain archaic and architectonic qualities. Originally this piece was untitled. I always thought of it as a portal, but one you could only see through, not walk through. The two natural stone side walls enclose you as you walk up to slit between the polished panels. As you approach these panels you see your reflection coming at you. The granite reflects what is behind you as well, like an image of the past. Later, I read a reference to the mythical underground river of forgetfulness, Lethe. I felt that in some poetic way the reference fit the sculpture. However, once installed at Socrates, Portal Lethe, like many of the other sculptures there, lost some of its private nature and took up instead some of the expansive and communal energy of this remarkable sculpture park. This did not change the work, it enhanced it an added another dimension to how “public art” might exist in the word.