There are in this piece essentially two major simultaneous dynamics. On one end there is a ‘sliding’ effect between the Cor-Ten mass and the stainless– this could be thought of as a glacier grinding against a rock wall. This is considered an exciting and dynamic interface, pregnant with metaphorical potential, as emphasized by bronze in this zone.

Near the other end is a narrow column, somewhat off balance and slipping out from under the ‘cap’ form which links it to the parent mass. This can be thought of as a portion of a glacier calving– and it is important to remember that any ice that breaks off from a tidewater terminus into the sea has a short subsequent life.

The green bronze on this element can be thought of as symbolizing life– green is the color of chlorophyll, and blue-green algae were the first discrete life forms of earth– as differentiated from the ice; it is equally possible to think of this as a version of the Adam and Eve story where this ‘rejected’ column represents our species, unable to rejoin the natural world, and thus doomed.

The chalice in the title refers obviously to the silhouette of the piece seen from some angles. However, chalices are exclusively sacramental in purpose, and the reference indicates an awareness of the moral depth of some of the possible implications mentioned above.