TRANSFORMATION George Sawyer Like everyone who has ever visited the seashore, I have been fascinated watching waves roll in, rise into a curl, and break on the beach. In Breakers I wanted to play with the concept of the transformation of waves as they evolve from a swell into a breaker. I wanted to try to capture motion and evolving shape as well as the change of reflectivity and texture. The suggestion of wave motion is through a three-dimensional rendering of what one sees as motion in a flip-page cartoon animation. Three sets of wave profiles progress sequentially in spiral arcs from a swell at the center stone through a curl and finally break at the edge of the piece. As one tilts the piece in the hand, the polished platinum reflects light off the crests of the waves, creating the illusion of motion from center to edge. Each wave profile is composed of polished platinum on one face and black and gold patterned metal on the other. The patterned metal transitions from a completely black patina at the innermost end of the waves to completely gold at the outermost end. As the piece moves, the viewer’s perspective changes and reflections of the gold and black play on the polished platinum. The visual suggestion is that of gold spray and foam increasing as the crest of the wave breaks at the edge of the piece. 60