New Firefly, our newest addition to our sculpture garden is here, and ready for viewing. Warren, RI Sculptor Mark Wholey installed New Firefly a few days ago. Standing intrepid at 9 and a half feet tall, it proudly welcomes gallery visitors as they approach our grounds.
The steel sculpture, painted with a variegated texture of deep blues and perforated with holes creates a glittering effect as the sunlight simultaneously reflects off the paint surface and peeks through tiny apertures.
Of New Firefly, Professor Francesco Silva, University of Milan says “I like your steel diamond: in times dominated by uncertainties it gives a sensation of strength!” Another viewer described it as “Sleek and Hopeful.”

Mark Wholey is a very tall fellow, so next to him, the sculpture doesn’t look quite its full 9 feet 6 inches tall.
Walking around New Firefly, the whole object changes, pinpricks of blue sky shimmer through the drilled holes, and the sharp corners, steep angles, and swooping curves, bend and re-shape the proportions and sillouhette of the sculpture.
New Firefly joins our ever growing sculpture garden, which currently hosts five unique outdoor sculptures, including Line House by Joan Backes- the artist to be featured in our July exhibit at the Dedee Shattuck Gallery.
We can’t wait to hear your thoughts and interpretations of this sculpture, and we hope you will love it as much as we do!
I Love this sculpture with it’s beautiful shapes, surfaces and reflections!
I want to come soon and see the full effect.
A beautiful piece especially given that by its description it should be Given the description, it should be harder to appreciate via photograph. It looks to have the darkened elegance of a Brancusi, enlivened by the “texture” of the holes and the interplay with natural light. It works well with the structure too.
A fine piece beautifully done; it reminds me of Brancusi’s “Bird In Space.” (I wonder if any of those little holes are Higgs Bosons.)
The holes makes it always look as if it has just rained…marvelous (especially coming from the desert)