the folded rock

Rock, paper, scissors. Rock resists shaping, breaking, giving way. Yet here it is, hard granite from the hills of New Brunswick, shaped into water, smooth as waves.

This is a close-up of a sculpture carved from a chunk of solid granite over the past six weeks, part of an international sculpture symposium held here in Saint John.

I watch passersby reach out and touch, run their hands over the surface, feel the warmth of the rock face lifted to the sun. I look at the way these giant blocks have been carved and reformed into art, some rough, some smooth and shiny as glass.

Boulders can be broken. Rocks can be rolled away. Stones can be shaped and smoothed, refined and polished in the timeless rolling of the sea.