2012 Day Trip: Oregon, Illinois / Oregon Sculpture Trail / Paths of Conviction, Footsteps of Fate

Paths of Conviction, Footsteps of Fate – by Jeff Adams

Installed: 2002

Location: Mix Park, Oregon, IL.

Paths of Conviction, Footsteps of Fate:
This sculpture is a reflection on the personal conviction,
struggle and fate shared by Lincoln and Black Hawk. No other relationship is intended.

Paths of Conviction, Footsteps of Fate – by Jeff Adams

Paths of Conviction, Footssteps of Fate – by sculptor Jeff Adams.

This sculpture is a reflection on the personal conviction, struggle and fate shared by Lincoln and Black Hawk. No other relationship is intended.

Black Hawk is depicted as faithfully as could be determined from the very few existing paintings, while Lincoln is a composite of sixty-four documented photographs. Life masks were used as reference for both figures. Black Hawk sits on an incline, symbolic of the precarious position of the Native American during the White settlement of the prairie. It has been documented that Black Hawk said he gave everything he had away in mourning the loss of his two children. The only covering he retained was a piece of buffalo robe. That statement provided the visual image Black Hawk clutching the buffalo robe lifted in both defiance and pleading. his left arm cling to the rock symbolozing his effort to retain the Saux homeland.

In this sculpture Lincoln emerges from the same rock, reaching forward on his own path of conviction, which ultimately led to his presidency. My intent was to capture Lincoln spirit, not illustrate a particular moment in history.

I believe sculpture contributes to the identity of a place and its people. My hope is the heritage of sculpture that began with lorado taft will not be something from our past. This sculpture aspires to beome part of that history, linking our artistic heritage with a continuing tradition of art and culture.