“Sails” sculpture in the Excelsior Commons

I was taught art criticism by Leon Golub. He was the master of the objective analysis of art. Formalstic - at least to start. (His art was not objective but social) For me, In the end I have done no formal art criticism. Here we go: The Katherine Nash piece “Sails” is an 1980s sculpture of welded brushed metal, steel I believe. Simple, abstract pieces were very common in the late 70s and early 80s, to my recollection. - They came from the large following of minimalist sculpture of the time. “Sails” is a series of triangles connected to create a 3 level stack of pyramids. The cold grey color and brushed metal quality lend a water-like shimmer to a contrasting hard metal structure. The two concepts at first seem at odds. I think they are, but the shapes do echo sails, and the colors, water, enough to make a connection. Perhaps at this point one might consider the timeless enduring qualities of water and the transciency of metal. The contrasting materials then make a deeper statement.