(1921-2014)
Located outside the main entrance to the Dr. William Riddell Centre
Tolsop, 1977
Welded steel
41″ x 118″ x 102″
University of Regina President’s Art Collection; pc.2005.2
Tolsop (1977), was inspired by some surplus steel pieces John Nugent had access to at the IPSCO steel company, Regina. Interested in the three-dimensional forms possible by arranging the pieces, Nugent created a sculpture that has entirely different character when viewed from different angles. While the large convex disc dominates all views, its positioning at 45 degrees invites the viewer to consider it from other vantage points, and what initially appears a large solid, flattish and angle piece morphs into an airier version complete with vertical and horizontal elements of smaller proportions. The sculpture sat for many years in the natural environment of Nugent’s property in the Qu’apelle Valley, just steps from the Lumsden studio in which it was created. Uncoated, welded steel, it has gained a patina of characteristics of the material itself. Nugent creates names for many of his sculptures to eliminate distraction from the form itself, and Tolsop is no exception. The name is an invented term suggested to him by the final form of the sculpture, just as the final form was suggested by the raw shapes available in the yard.