Nicole Beck has left behind her welding tools to create “Astroterra.” Like a sundial, it is positioned with its spine to the south so that the sun creates elliptical shadows on the ground as the sun arcs across the sky. Windows pierce the structure and frame the surrounding environment for the viewer to peer through. The design of the mosaic tiles on the exterior display a starry sky and echo pictures being recorded by the Hubble Telescope. The interior design is a properly proportioned cross-section of the interior of the earth’s core. Her use of colors provide a stark, complementary contrast to the exterior imagery.

Nicole Beck is on the Board of Directors of the newly-created Chicago Sculpture International, a satellite organization of the International Sculpture Center. Her works represent a holistic approach to art and science. There is a warmer, more organic flair to her large-scale public sculpture than one expects of this genre. Beck has completed many public sculpture commissions and is exhibited nationwide.

YEARS EXHIBITED: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002