Ecstasy ~ Hayes Valley, San Francisco

Ecstasy, a 28-foot-tall figurative sculpture made from reclaimed steel, embodies the emotion of passion and the posture of exaltation it can inspire. She is illuminated at dusk by a warm light that emanates from her hands and softly glows upon her shoulders, neck and head that is thrown back in elation. Ecstasy was built in 2007 and first debuted on-stage at The Crucible's Fire Opera, then at Burning Man, 2007. Since then she traveled widely: Maker Faire, 2008, and Nocturnal, 2009. Through 2011, Ecstasy was on exhibit in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, at Patricia's Green. She is now part of a private collection.

About the Artist
- Karen Cusolito studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts College of Art. She worked on several public art installations in and around the Boston area before moving to San Francisco in 1996. Her art has taken many forms, from painting and mixed media to the large-scale steel sculptures she’s presently developing.
She finds drawing to be the easiest and most concise form of communication and the human form a rich arena in which to explore and express emotion, intention, and challenge. Much of her work focuses on humanity and the environment and the delicate balance between the two.
Karen is about to embark on a new series that studies the female form throughout history.
Since 2009, she has been running American Steel Studios in Oakland, CA, which provides studio and gallery space to over 100 artists and small businesses.

- Dan Das Mann’s fascination with large-scale work began with a landscape architecture degree from Rutgers University. He is a self-taught jack-of-all-trades, and has created a large body of work including The One Tree, The Faces of the Man as well as a line of sculptures produced for the consumer market.
Karen Cusolito studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts College of Art and has produced several public art installations in and around the Boston area. She is passionate about the human form as a means of expression. Her work includes painting and mixed-media sculpture, as well as photography and literary “vignettes”.

Dan and Karen began their collaboration in 2005, creating Passage, which BRAF supported to be installed near Peir 14 in San Francisco in the summer of 2007.
Dan and Karen have inspired an active and lively community of artists and volunteers, without whom, their large-scale works would not be possible. Their management of the huge artists’ workspace in Oakland, Ca, American Steel, is breaking ground in demonstrating how to support artists and promote community.