Sculptor reaches new heights with his latest installation, "Tableith"

Sculptor Charles Ponticello (M.F.A.'94/A) was commissioned to create the RPI Commemorative Sculpture.

Charles Ponticello (M.F.A. '94/A) thinks big. Really big.

As an undergraduate at the Maryland Institute College of Art, he created his first oversized work, an untitled 18-foot-tall steel abstract sculpture.

"From that moment on, I was hooked on large works," Ponticello says. "People tend to lean toward what comes natural to them. Small works -- let's just say, outside of models, I have little experience in tabletop works."

Ponticello's affinity for large-scale, ambitious pieces evolved as a graduate sculpture student at Virginia Commonwealth University. There, he began to explore square and rectangular imagery in mediums such as plaster, steel, wood and papier-mâché.

For his final thesis project, Ponticello created "Imprint," a 9-foot wall of plaster suspended within a steel altar.

"I reflect back on this with gratitude," he says. "If not for the School of the Arts and all its quirkiness, I may not have taken these interesting steps."

His latest work reaches new heights. "Tableith," a stone sculpture that pays tribute to VCU's predecessor, Richmond Professional Institute, stands 14½ feet and weighs more than 25 tons. Each of the 51 cast discs stacked atop each other and spiraling upward represents a year in RPI's history and is inscribed on the edge with a significant phrase from the corresponding year at the institution.

The name "Tableith" derives from two sources. "Lith" comes from the word monolith, a structure that symbolizes the infinite and longevity, often referring to historic moments in time. "Table" connotes thoughts of "tablet," "table of contents," says Ponticello, and "is often the bedrock on which foundations are built."

The impressive piece, located next to Ginter House on the Monroe Park Campus, posed a challenge to erect, to say the least. Ponticello hoped to lay six discs a day for a roughly two-week installation. Instead, working with a three-person team weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the job took five weeks.

"It was the most difficult installation I've done," Ponticello says.

Tableith will be presented Oct. 25, 2008, as part of the Monroe Park Festival, one of several events celebrating VCU's 40th anniversary. Despite the delays involved with installation, the final result delights Ponticello.

"Of the many locations available on campus for installing major, large-scale sculptures, this location is absolutely beautiful," he says. "I think the alumni are fortunate."

Ponticello also enjoys the various interpretations the sculpture evokes.

"People see it as a tree root, three figures embracing and my favorite, a strand of DNA," he says.

An architectural craftsman as well as a sculptor, Ponticello has been singled out for his artistic excellence. In 2003, he won the Washington Building Congress Craftsmanship Award for finishes.

"I underrated it until the ceremony," Ponticello says of the award. "I casually walked into a whopping 2,000-person event. When the president's marching band came out, I knew I was underdressed."

Ponticello thinks fondly on his VCU education and remains grateful to his professors for the attention they gave him.

"At that time in my life, with a new marriage and children on the way, the faculty was sharp to see my needs and meet them," he says. "All the instructors were special, gifted artists who made a home of the place. I was fortunate to study under them." 

The busy artist's two newest works deal with environmental issues, a current passion. The first installation, "Deepwater Sponger," a cast-iron and concrete figurative sculpture, sits on the Johns Hopkins University campus and raises questions about water usage. As a companion to the work, Ponticello will join Johns Hopkins scientists in a lecture about how art can act as a bridge between man and science. Another piece currently under construction, a privately commissioned sculpture also of cast iron and concrete, challenges viewers to think about issues such as global warming.

Continuing to evolve as an artist, Ponticello revels in the direction of his latest projects and the opportunity they afford him.

"It is important to engage our youth with examples of marriages between the sciences and the arts that can make a difference," Ponticello says.