Nested among a garden of fruit trees next to the Roofless Church in New Harmony is another sculpture by Stephen de Staebler, the Angel of Annunciation, which is easy to overlook, despite its tallness.
A small plaque on the church wall nearby quotes a poem by Staedler that states that arms are for doing, while wings are for being.
This angel is deeply conflicted. The arm sticks out of his head like the wings. The head itself, whose face is just recognizable as such from the side, is split in half when viewed from the front.
One of the two feet is cemented in, the other free to walk. Where does this leave us?
There is another sculpture in this garden, without plaque or any indication of authorship: A piece of wood, hanging from a tree.
It’s not a sculpture. It’s what is left over from binding the branches of an aging tree together to keep it from breaking and falling apart. An attempt can never completely be a failure. Doing and being can still be one.
The Inner Frame 