Gary Justis is known for his mesmerizing and dynamic sculptures inspired by mechanical motion and the cause-and-effect actions of machinery. In recent years his fascination with light has led Justis to create sculptures and photographs that use light as both subject and medium.
Works such as “The Pond” (2013) and “Sun Cell” (2016), fabricated with a raw, mechanical vocabulary in aluminum, steel, plastic, wood, and wire, move with eccentric kinetic rhythms, projecting motile light images into the surrounding environment. There is an arresting tension between the hard, metallic, machine esthetic of the objects and the soft, organic imagery of the light projections that suggests elements of nature: water, a sunset, etc. “Head On Horizon Redux” (2010) is the largest of Justis’ kinetic pieces. The viewer is overwhelmed with the beauty and dynamism of the object itself while simultaneously taking in its projections and the narrative of an overlaid looping video (made in collaboration with LJ Douglas) amid the cacophony of mechanical noise the piece generates. It is truly operatic in scale and ambition.