Growing up in rural Indiana I was exposed to abandoned farm homes and rundown steel structures. I was always fascinated by the way nature seemed to devour and erase these man-made structures. Without these abandoned shells creating a latticework for the flora, the plants wouldn't have the necessary support to grow. Inspired by natures resiliency to survive and grow through adversary. The works ask for you to view them as ruins found from a lost time and place, a world where we get a glimpse at tomorrow.

Grade Level: 6–8

Project Title: Frozen in Flight

Objective: Understand kinetic form through still materials.

Activity: Students build a sculpture from popsicle sticks and paper that looks like it’s in mid-motion (e.g., leaning, twisting, jumping). They sketch movement paths.

In Motion combines interlocking wooden beams and steel joints to create a structure that appears to lean, twist, and balance under tension. Drawing on memories of Indiana’s abandoned rural architecture, Kiefer describes his work as inspired by places where “nature seemed to devour and erase… man-made structures,” transforming decay into a framework for renewal. The sculpture explores implied motion—the suggestion of movement within a static object—through strong diagonals and shifting geometric relationships that convey torque, instability, and dynamic energy.

Referencing both modernist construction and agricultural structures, the work highlights resilience and transformation through material change. As wood weathers and metal rusts over time, the sculpture evolves visually, reinforcing themes of growth, endurance, and the ongoing dialogue between constructed environments and natural processes.