DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Having just flown home from Miami, Bun Lai made a beeline to his family restaurant, Miya’s Sushi on Howe Street. He was greeted by a new sight: an up-lit boat with elongated, wavy oars hovering above the flat, cantilevered roof that extends over the sidewalk.
“That’s sick!” Lai exclaimed.
Campaniello, left, Finch, Lai.
A small gathering of artists, riggers, and lighting technicians who created and installed the boat sculpture had been waiting outside Miya’s for Lai’s arrival. They understood that “sick” was an exuberant compliment, slang for “more than wonderful.”
Bun with his sister, Mei.
Lai’s mother Yoshiko Lai found Miya’s Sushi in 1984; it became a top regional culinary draw in downtown. Under Bun Lai’s management, the restaurant has also become internationally recognized as the first sustainable sushi restaurant with a seafood menu that includes invasive species — cuisine that delights the palate and tastes much better than it sounds.
The challenging boat installation, commissioned by Lai from New Haven sculptor Silas Finch, is emblematic of their shared ethos of sustainability, environmentalism and creative expression. In Bun Lai, Finch said, he recognizes a passion-driven kindred spirit with “one of the most hospitality-driven, give-all families” he has come to know.
Campaniello and Finch use a Nico press clamp to create a cable loop.
Upon seeing the finished product, Lai dubbed the sculpture “Miya’s Ark.” He saw the sculpture as a metaphor, a lifeboat of sustainability and “a container for species we are trying to protect.” Noting sustainability problems such as the destruction of biodiversity and climate change, Lai said the boat makes perfect sense. “Only Silas could have thought up something like this,” he said.
Contributed Photo.
Campaniello and Cornier in the studio.
Months in the making, the work brought together the interdisciplinary talents of master boat rigger and sailing coach David Campaniello and welder Rafael Cornier of Versteeg Art Fabricators of Bethany, in addition to Finch. Cornier fabricated the familiar metal wall sculptures designed by New Haven architect Eric Epstein, that have graced the facades of the popular Devil’s Gear bike shop locations in the 9th Square. He created the massive brackets for the Miya’s installation, that, in combination with Campaniello’s cable rigging, supports the weight of the boat and oars.
Oars during fabrication outside the Finch Studio.
The long tubes used to create the oars were bent by the crew on a jig created by Cornier, then faux-painted by Campaniello.
The overall effect is that of a precautionary, lifeboat hanging from a larger ship. For Finch, the piece also embodies the biomorphic qualities of a giant squid or sea creature with long, curvilinear tentacles that appear to be swimming through the water. New Haven lighting designer and master electrician Jamie Burnett has agreed to install the sculpture’s permanent lighting, adding to visual drama at night time.
Campaniello and some of the adjustable rigging.
For months, Finch’s 169 East St. studio had been in a state of creative disarray as the sculptor and his team transformed their sketches into technical AutoCAD drawings created by Campaniello, enabling the transition from theories and possibilities to the creation of the physical sculpture. In the process of collaboration, the artists learned from each other, opening up a world of new possibilities: “I came to see applications for my own work as an artist — I learned that you don’t have to do everything yourself” said Finch.
Like most found objects that Finch incorporates into his art making, Miya’s Ark, previously titled “Brianna’s Bliss,” was also a found object. An acquaintance of Campaniello had been using the boat as a lawn feature for years. It that had fallen into disrepair but would soon be resurrected in the hands and imagination of Finch. Using a decoupage technique, Finch applied curated newspaper ads and articles from the 1970’s, a period of uprising, social upheaval and change, to the boat’s exterior surfaces. The paper skin was then sealed the with multiple layers of polymer to help withstand the onslaught of the elements over time.
Most readable is a large ad and quote, centered on the boat’s stern: “The voice of the prophet is heard on the street” — a paraphrase from the prophet Isaiah. Less visible is the technical know-how that that went into designing the complex support system of bracket arms and tension cables that are calibrated at various load-bearing angles and points of tension that Campaniello identified as “trigonometry vectors.”
For professional sailor Campaniello, the sculpture signals a new direction and focus in addition to fixing boats: “What I want to do is use my technical skills to create art. I want to make things that are beautiful and provocative.”
If technical lessons were learned during the sculpture’s creation, so were philosophical ones. “The way Silas lives his life is inspiring. He worries about his art before anything else — before his bank account, before his ego. To be able to have the courage to live for your passion and not fear, is a valuable lesson we can all learn from,” said Campaniello.
Along with another Finch-created boat sculpture in Miya’s arts-inspired interior, Miya’s Ark can seen be hovering just above the threshold at 68 Howe St. in New Haven.