Located on the north side of the Auburn Golf Course Clubhouse, the steel sculpture Swing imitates the circle of the golf swing, the club sweeping out a graceful arc from a central point, mimicking the movement and form of a seed pod fluttering to the ground.
On the south side of the Clubhouse is Flight, the stylized arc of a golf ball following its path towards the first hole.
Seattle artist Susan Zoccola used stainless steel details and steel rods in both works to stop elements and stages of motion in time.
“I work by doing a lot of drawings, and I came back to the Arts Commission to share with them my thought processes,” Zoccola explained at the June 3 dedication of the newest additions to the City’s 20-piece public art collection.
“I wanted to know if I was going in the right direction, and I kept coming back to the swing,” Zoccala continued. “I looked at Tiger Woods’ swing on film, watched it in slow motion, and thought, wow, he does it in perfect time. I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful a golf swing can be, and how much it would inspire me. Often my work is very inspired by nature and forms, and the swing itself felt like a natural form to me. The human body moving efficiently makes a beautiful shape.”
Zoccola also wanted to pay homage to the golf course.
“I wanted a little bit of natural reference, so I was hoping these little pods at the end would sort of look like a golf club and a bit like seed pods, too. I wanted there to be several layers of interpretation if someone was so inclined to look at it,” Zoccola said.
Daryl Faber, director of Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation, said public reaction to the works has been ecstatic.
“Golfers that come out here have been thrilled with it being here,”” said Faber.
“Art always draws us together,” said Mayor Pete Lewis. “It’s always an exciting part of a community, it’s another one of those partnerships within community.”
With the goal of creating a prominent artwork that will welcome visitors to the busy golf course, the Auburn Arts Commission’s seven-member artist selection committee felt that both sculptures should represent the Clubhouse and Golf Course’s natural setting and the variety of individuals that use the Clubhouse.
Recognizing that public art plays an important role in civic revitalization and neighborhood development, the Commission created its Public Places program in 1988 and commissioned new works to enhance the city’s parks, streetscapes, infrastructure and civic institutions. Auburn’s Parks, Arts and Recreation manages the program.
Zoccola, who earned her degree through the San Francisco Art Institute and University of Washington, presents exhibits across the United States. Her artwork, inspired by the beauty and fragility of natural forms, can be found in various public and corporate collections.
One of many works
During the last 10 years, Zoccala has finished a number of private and public art projects, including the recently installed public art projects at Seattle’s Laurelhurst Community Center and the Seattle Aquarium. Among her other Seattle public artworks are Grassblades, a 150-foot-long screen wall project for the Seattle Center, which earned an AIA award; Bloom, a five-story art wall for King County Metro Transit at the Atlantic Central Base garage; and a 20-foot-high glass mosaic column at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Zoccola regards her art as a collaboration between the artist and the viewer.
“I always want that, I have my intention and inspiration, but I am interested in their reaction,” Zoccola said. “I hope these works might engage them, make them linger at this site. I hope it makes them think about the motion of golf and nature.”
