"Southern Star" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, Trenton, New Jersey

"Southern Star" is a welded steel sculpture made in 1989 by the American artist Joel Perlman. It demonstrates Perlman’s "truth to materials." According to the artist, "metal should look and act like metal." The story behind the conception and construction of ‘Southern Star’ reveals his exploratory process of creation. Although Perlman does very few drawings while working on a piece, "Southern Star" began with a small Styrofoam model, which was then cast in bronze. After casting the model, Perlman made this ten-foot steel version. The diamond-like shape of the sculpture expands upwards from a narrow base and culminates in an open abstract crystalline construction that seems to defy gravity. This piece served as the inspiration for Perlman’s "Great Southern Star," fabricated in aluminum for exhibit in the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art’s Rotunda Gallery, University of Florida.