A few years ago I was asked by a client who knew that I had started out my career as a woodcarver, to create a set of four elevator doors for the new house being built. I wouldn't normally accept a commission for a carved wood piece, but this was an unusual enough project to stimulate my interest. I proceeded to work out a concept that would center around the idea of passages through space, time and place.

Since the elevator would pass through four floors of this townhouse, from basement to garrett, I wanted to sort of celebrate each entry or exit from in or out of each space. I then incorporated into each door design, forged iron elements that not only became design units, but were percussive sound instruments as well. The tonality of each door was tuned for a specific effect.

The bottom door represented the sea basin and had both a deep sonority and a pinging like sound. The main floor door represented an island (pictured on the web site), and the sun is the sound spot for that piece. The next door up represented the inland and had a discordant sounding stacked lake shape and then a counterpoint consisting of the tinkling sounds of rain rods. The final door represented the sky, with a mellow sounding sun shape.

I enjoyed working on this series of pieces and they provided a spike of a different kind of working adventure that was a detour from the normal avenues I explore. It was similar to a brief but torrid affair, illicitly engaged in. I enjoyed it very much.

Chris Ray