Ben Tré’s sculptures, which often take the form of vessels, are inspired by elements of architecture and industry, such as columns, heavy stone fragments, ancient monoliths, and machine parts. A pioneer in sand casting and ladle casting in the United States, Ben Tré began with small forms, such as this one. Consistently pushing the limits of his knowledge, the artist had sufficiently developed his ideas and his technique by the mid-1980s to start working on a large scale.