Janet Echelman: Bending Arc

The artist and sculptor Janet Echelman works on huge pieces of public art that combine high tech design, history and visual imagination to soar above the heads of the public and interact with the environment. Her latest, Bending Arc, has been waiting out the Covid crisis before finally being unveiled to the public in St Petersburg, Florida. Spanning 427 feet, and held by some 180 miles of twine, this giant net sculpture has needed a team of architects, model makers, computer scientists, aeronautical and structural engineers - all led by Echelman - to create a billowing, multi-coloured artwork that will cast shade and inspire the pier walkers of St Petersburg. It is also an artwork that draws directly on Echelman’s own family history in ready-to-wear fashion. Andrea Shea has been documenting Echelman's creative processes and now, all that awaits, is the grand opening scheduled for July when the artist’s imagination will billow and dazzle in the sea breeze.