Sunday, September 12, 1999
Sculptor chisels legacy in limestone
BY KAREN SAMPLES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Russ Byrd's mortality is fastened to the top of a wooden structure in his front yard.
He doesn't mind its presence. Everyone dies eventually. At least upon his own passing, he knows what he will leave behind: A legacy as substantial and enduring as stone.
The piece called “Tied to Your Mortality” was once just that. With hammer and chisel, Mr. Byrd carved from a slab of limestone the head and shoulders of a man. His wrist is chained and his eyes turned to this symbol of his limitations.
An unusual backyard
The sculpture, mounted high atop some latticework, stands watch over what has to be the most unusual yard in Northern Kentucky. Mr. Byrd has filled it with his limestone creations — some standing as tall as he, some fastened like paintings to primitive wooden crosses.
Behind the house, his garden has the look of an ancient ruin. Sometimes he gives private tours, during which he is likely to say, “Here, come and let me show you my altar.”
This turns out to be a simple, benchlike structure with a sculpture on top: the rough image of a woman holding a chalice to the sky.
When Mr. Byrd attempts to explain this extraordinary body of work, his words come out like a shrug.
“I just do what I do,” he says. “I do what it is. It just happens.”
He is 68. His prolific carving began in 1992, when he gave in to a long-standing impulse.
He is an artist by instinct alone. He imagines some ancestor must have done this same work, because once he begins, the rhythm of the chiseling takes over. His eyes see a form in the stone, his hands follow it and a figure emerges.
Each of these figures is distinctively his own. They resemble ancient Egyptians, with long necks, full lips and narrow noses. Like Buddhists, they often sit in the lotus position.
Mr. Byrd appreciates physical strength, so his people are lean and muscular. One of his women reminds him of a female soldier from Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.
His reading — of Voltaire, Dante, Hemingway, Homer — provides context for his art. One of his favorite books is Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, by Nikos Kazantzakis.
Mr. Byrd has been on a few odysseys of his own. Sculpting is only the most recent.
In earlier years, he was a railroad brakeman, a workout fanatic and a restless husband. He was searching for life, he says, and he feared the sameness of a long-time marriage.
He and his wife divorced in 1979. They remarried seven years later, and today Mr. Byrd calls himself blessed.
Now he pours his energies into art. Unlike other sculptors, who first make a clay model, he does a rough sketch directly on the stone, then attacks it.
"It's a ritual thing'
“There's a rhythm to removing stone,” he says. “It's a ritual thing. It's no different from a New Guinea native carving wood.”
Mr. Byrd gives away pieces as gifts, but he has never sold or exhibited his work beyond showing friends around the yard. Perhaps someday he will give more frequent tours, he says.
Most importantly, he knows these sculptures will outlast him. They will be his mark upon the world.
On the roof of his home sits another piece, which he calls “the birdman.” This suggests some classical inspiration — perhaps the myth of Icarus, whose artificial wings were melted by the sun.
As it turns out, Mr. Byrd likes rock 'n' roll. He delights in sharing this final secret of his yard:
“Birdman” pays tribute to a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Karen Samples is Kentucky columnist for the Enquirer. Her column appears Thursdays and Sundays. She can be reached at 578-5584, or by e-mail at ksamples@enquirer.com.
