Soldered brass, 18 x 16 x 10, 2009.
Boom Times is a prosperous figure that looks ready to topple. It wears a broad cocked hat, the headgear of a general, an admiral or a dignitary, and the hat is the widest and heaviest form in the piece. Below it the body narrows to a tall, tight mass on two thin legs and flat, splayed feet. The weight sits high, the support is slight, and the stance is a stride with the knees slightly bent.
An octagonal plaque with a bird in relief hangs on the chest like a badge of office or a medal. A small bird perches at the collar and a smaller figure climbs the side, attendants and hangers-on attached to the swaggerer. From behind, the hat has a round lens at each end, like a pair of bulging eyes.
A boom is a period of expansion when everyone gets invited aboard, and the sculpture has the full complement: swagger, decoration, passengers. It also has the proportions of that kind of expansion, with a great deal of display carried by very little. The figure is mid-stride and pleased with itself, and the balance is precarious.
