Egypt Eternity Sculpture by Larry Schuster

Egypt Eternity is composed of an 8′ sheet of clear plexiglass, held in place by steel pyramids, and a copper runway. Lightning bolts of stainless steel and silver flashes through the winged stained glass form of Nekhbet, the Egyptian Vulture Goddess.

Steel, copper, gold-plated steel, plexiglass and stained glass · Plexi sheet: 8′ H x 4′ W · Total height: 12′ 6″ H x 8′ W x 4′ D

The idea for this magnificent, contemporary sculpture came to Larry when a he received a picture postcard from a friend of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The photo featured a wall painting from an Egyptian tomb of Nekhbet, the Vulture Goddess.

Larry became intrigued with the image of Nekhbet when he realized that the bird’s sectional design and colors were perfectly suited for a work of stained glass. The golden Ankh (symbol of life and eternity), held by the bird, further added to his inspiration.

Larry selected the finest handmade, hand-rolled stained glass from an importer in San Francisco. When he completed the dramatic stained glass figure of Nekhbet, he “became fascinated with the idea of experimenting with ways of suspending the stained glass in the air without any apparent frame, thus the 8′ x 4′ foot sheet of vertically-placed plexiglass. The plexiglass sheet needed structural support, so I created two tall, thin, stylized steel pyramids and plated gold stalactite pins to hold it in place. The placement of the gold stalactites pins also direct the eye to the focus of the piece, Nekhbet.”

“The ramp of copper plates gives the illusion of distance, compressed distance, also bringing your eye to Nekhbet. Giving the piece life, movement from the top downward, is the silver plated stainless steel cloud and crescent moon, that transforms into a lightning bolt splitting the sun, only to emerge again with a greater power. As you can see, lighting and the interplay of colored images and shadow are integral to the work.”