Artist:          Mike Roig, Carrboro, North Carolina

Location:     Durham County Justice Center
                    510 South Dillard Street, Durham, NC 27701 (map)

Installed:   2015

Funding Source:   COP                        

About the Work:  

Some sculptures have extensive stories behind their conception and making, and others simply happen and make their own stories by the reaction they spark in those who come to appreciate them.  Twist of Fate is one of the second kind that Mike made on a whim. A filmmaker friend decided he wanted to make a short video of Mike making a sculpture, and Mike decided to give him something worth filming.  The piece found its perfect home near the entrance plaza of the Durham County Justice Center (Courthouse.)

About the Artist:

Mike Roig lives and works in Carrboro, North Carolina where he and his wife, author-artist Clay Carmichael, maintain the Heartworks Studio.

About himself and the creation of his sculptures, Mike says:  "I've been making art since I was small, it's what I came in hard-wired to do. Working with steel satisfies me in a way that no other medium has. It is tough and durable, yet maleable and open to infinite suggestion. It is heavy and obdurate, and yet can be made to express delicate movements of balance and grace. It can appear earthen and solid, or be polished to light-refracting brilliance. My work follows the notions of my thoughts. I don't often sketch ideas in advance: the bars, angles, torch, and welder are my drawing tools. All I need is a hook, some mental picture of an interesting direction to explore and I begin."

"I like to be surprised with what I come up with at the end of the day. Creativity is a journey where knowledge must be accumulated and employed in a seamless cycle. It fills in gaps of what I don't know in seemingly random ways, but only because I can't foresee everything that will be required to resolve the current problem. Then, inevitably, several onward courses will beckon. I'll choose what to me seems the most interesting way forward. That's the key, not what just moves you to completion, but what makes the journey a lively, memorable trek. I've learned as I have gotten older, and maybe some wiser, to talk less and work more. That's where the truly interesting conversation is taking place."

Find more about Mike and his work at www.mikeroig.com

Watch the video of Mike creating Twist of Fate