It’s Your Life / People, Places and Things to do. : WALK-UP ART : Courtyard Sculpture Beckons the Curious
A rhetorical question: if a work of public art sat in a forest, seen by no one, would it still qualify as public art?
There’s no particular rush of walk-up traffic by the spot where Helle Scharling-Todd’s sculpture, “Inner Conversations,” sits, between buildings and an expansive lawn at the Ventura County Government Center.
And more’s the charm, as it beckons to the curious with a friendly appeal, neither overly intellectual nor simplistic. A closed triangle of stylized figures, bearing a resemblance to Keith Haring’s graffiti people, are decorated with mosaic tiles.
On these figures are much smaller, hidden figures: a pregnant woman, a man with a surfboard (or is it a shield?) and a dog, and another person of indeterminate gender either crouching or climbing. These are ambiguous enough to elicit different interpretations--is it art about New Age idealism or humanity in fear of itself?
On a bright summer’s day, the viewer leans toward the former.
* Helle Scharling-Todd’s sculpture “Inner Conversation,” in the courtyard of the Ventura County Government Center, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
