Riverwalk in Motion

Description

Title: Riverwalk in Motion
Artist: ArNoUx
Year: 2026
Medium: Mixed-media sculptural assemblage on a repurposed wooden bench structure, incorporating acrylic paint, cement, modeling clay, plaster, textured paper and toilet tissue, recycled wood, glass fragments, found objects, and handmade sculptural elements.
Style: Figurative German Expressionism / Assemblage Sculpture
Dimensions: Approximately 36 × 17.5 × 24 inches
Length × Width × Height
91.4 × 44.5 × 61 cm
Curatorial Statement
Riverwalk in Motion is a three-dimensional interpretation of Fort Lauderdale’s Riverwalk as a living meeting point between water, wildlife, urban history, memory, and community. Created as a mixed-media sculptural assemblage, the work transforms a repurposed wooden bench structure into a symbolic fragment of the city’s riverside landscape.
ArNoUx constructed the sculpture by combining traditional art materials with recycled and everyday elements. Acrylic paint, cement, modeling clay, plaster, textured paper, toilet tissue, recycled wood, glass fragments, found objects, and handmade sculptural forms were layered and assembled directly onto the wooden structure. Toilet tissue and paper were manipulated to create raised surfaces, organic textures, shoreline formations, and areas suggesting the continuous movement of the water.
Cement, clay, and plaster provide physical weight and irregularity to the sculptural forms, reinforcing the raw and deliberately imperfect character of the work. Pieces of glass were incorporated into the sailboats and surrounding details, capturing and reflecting light in a manner reminiscent of sunlight touching the New River. The visible wooden structure remains an essential part of the composition, functioning simultaneously as the sculpture’s physical support and as a reference to the benches, walkways, and gathering spaces found throughout Riverwalk.
The expressive seabird, fish, sailboats, sun, small dove, textured shoreline, painted water, and architectural fragments evoke the movement and vitality of Fort Lauderdale’s riverfront. Rather than presenting a literal or photographic representation of the location, ArNoUx reconstructs Riverwalk through emotion, material memory, and expressive gesture.
The work’s rough surfaces, layered materials, distorted forms, visible construction, and gestural application of color reflect the artist’s Figurative German Expressionist language. Within this visual approach, emotional truth and symbolic meaning are valued above conventional realism or technical perfection.
The dark bottle functions as a vessel of memory. It represents the messages, personal histories, migrations, and human experiences carried through the river and accumulated along its banks. The birds become silent witnesses to the continual transformation of the landscape, observing the relationship between nature, architecture, and the people who pass through Riverwalk.
The small dove introduces a spiritual dimension, symbolizing peace, hope, protection, and the possibility of renewal. The fish and seabirds acknowledge the wildlife inhabiting the New River, while the glass sailboats evoke travel, freedom, movement, and Fort Lauderdale’s maritime identity.
Through its deliberately raw construction and its combination of discarded, fragile, natural, and industrial materials, Riverwalk in Motion celebrates not only the physical beauty of Fort Lauderdale, but also Riverwalk’s role as a place of connection, migration, contemplation, recreation, and collective memory.
The sculpture invites viewers to experience Riverwalk not as a fixed geographical location, but as an evolving environment continually shaped by water, wildlife, human presence, and time.
Materials and Construction
The work was constructed on a repurposed wooden bench structure and includes:
Acrylic paint applied through expressive and gestural brushwork
Cement and plaster used to build volume, weight, and textured surfaces
Modeling clay used to form and define sculptural details
Toilet tissue and paper layered to create relief, shoreline textures, and organic formations
Recycled wood incorporated as both structural and conceptual material
Glass fragments used to construct the sailboats and reflective details
Found objects integrated into the composition
Handmade sculptural elements representing birds, fish, the sun, water, shoreline, and maritime imagery
A dark bottle functioning as a symbolic vessel of memory and communication
Conceptual Classification
Mixed-Media Sculptural Assemblage on a Repurposed Wooden Structure
Figurative German Expressionist Assemblage Sculpture