Waif's Anchors

Waif’s Anchors is a significant example of sculptor Isaac Witkin’s innovative poured bronze technique, developed during the late 1970s while he was associated with the Johnson Atelier (Mercerville, New Jersey). Witkin described how the free-form organic shapes of this piece contrast sharply with his earlier hard-edges sculptural forms in steel: "This period marks the beginning of my maturity as a sculptor. I abandoned the strictures of welded constructed sculpture and discovered a new language for myself through the process of direct pouring of metal into beds of sand and other surfaces, allowing the material to create a formal logic of its own. This process allows me to draw directly with the material, creating a language out of the behavior flow of the molten bronze."

Witkin’s poured bronze technique produced biomorphic structures that recall the influence of his work as an assistant with British sculptor Henry Moore during the early 1960s. During his lifetime, Isaac Witkin acquired an international reputation as a sculptor. Waif’s Anchors has been on display in the Michener Art Museum’s courtyard since 1989, where it has become an integral feature of the museum’s landscape.