Hand Dog Pull Toy + Turtles and Transitions
Adrian Arleo
Harborview Medical Center
Animal figures offer calm for healing and life’s transitions.
Adrian Arleo combines human, animal, and natural imagery in her sculptures, suggesting the powerful connection between human and non-human realms. Two works at Harborview capture these universal relationships—one with turtles and the other with a dog. Both were commissioned for the Level 4 elevator lobby of Harborview’s Norm Maleng Building in response to the themes of Healing Green and Life Stories.
“Touch can be an amazing aid to healing, and a soothing way to reduce stress and anxiety,” says Arleo, who sought to capture its therapeutic benefits in Hand Dog Pull Toy, a bronze sculpture made up of hundreds of caressing hands. The work invokes the kindness and empathy of the hospital’s therapy dogs, and invites playful interaction. “By touching the sculpture, thoughts link with the experiences of our own hands, taking in the feel of the piece, and hopefully triggering memories of loved pets or other animals that have given solace,” Arleo says.
In Turtles and Transitions, the artist depicts birth and death with a pair of ceramic wall sculptures rooted in the ancient wisdom of turtles. In one sculpture, a turtle carries and comforts a baby; in the other, an old man. Together they represent opposite ends of life’s spectrum—and in their composition on the wall, they appear to be moving toward one another.Continue Reading ›
About the Location
Harborview Medical Center
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