We’re all familiar with the popular musical The Sound of Music. Who can forget such endearing songs as “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” “My Favorite Things,” and [How Do You Solve a Problem Like] “Maria.” It’s this last song that comes to mind when viewing Kevin Robb’s sculpture Capturing the Moon. This fabricated bronze sculpture brings the last lines of “Maria” to life.
“How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?”
In Kevin’s sculpture three swaths of grey flecked bronze, two floating and one anchored, capture the moon. They could be clouds closing in on this orb of reflecting light to hide its magnificence or firmer bars clamping down on this moving ball to hold it in place. But these jailers seem to have a movement of their own, their sculpted shapes reminiscent of undulating waves.
Either way, the sculpture itself represents achieving the impossible. Hold a moonbeam in your hand? It can’t be done!
But art reminds us to dream, to try what we think can’t be done. Whether placed outside an office building to inspire and drive a company vision or within the alcoves of a home to encourage creativity and wonder, this sculpture prompts the viewer to ponder the question: How do you hold a moonbeam in our hand? How do you solve a problem like….? And what would you do with ‘the moon,’ whatever your moon is, once you have it?
Capturing the Moon motivates us to capture the treasures of our lives and hold them in our hands.
-Sarah Ampleman