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Morning by Donal Hord

Friday, 13 June 2008

Artist: Donal Hord - Embarcadero Marina Park North
Location: Near entry cul de sac in the lawn area

Awaking to another glorious morning on the shores of San Diego Bay, this 6’ 3" black granite figure of a muscular young man stretches as if arising from a good night’s sleep. Located in Embarcadero Marina Park, "Morning" is the work of the late Donal Hord, a San Diego-based sculptor of international renown whose works draw inspiration from the light, geography and climate of the dry, boulder-studded deserts of the American Southwest. This piece depicts a waking man sitting atop a hill, reminiscent of those on which many Mexican cities are built. Around the base of the sculpture are two fangs, the Aztec symbol of man’s emergence from the jaws of the earth, and a stalk of corn representative of Mexico’s staff of life. Two spheres – the sun and moon – also decorate the base. Donal Hord liberated this figure from a 1.5 ton block of black diorite locally quarried from Escondido. It was created from 1951-56 and resided at the artist’s home until acquired by the Port of San Diego in 1983.