Timothy Horn, Mother-Load, 2008, crystalized rock sugar, steel, plywood, and shellac, 72 x 108 x 66 in.
In 2008, the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco invited Melbourne-born sculptor Timothy Horn—then living and working in Santa Fe, New Mexico—to create an exhibition. Faced with the challenge of choosing subject matter worthy of this honor, the young artist turned to the history of both the museum and the city for inspiration. His research led him to the influential Spreckels family—major donors of the museum who had made their fortune refining and distributing sugar. One figure in particular stood out from the rest: Alma Spreckels. A powerful patron of the Legion of Honor, Alma was known for her lavish lifestyle and grand appearances across San Francisco in an ornate carriage modelled after the Gold State Coach of UK fame. With this in mind, Horn had his inspiration. He began filling grocery carts with rock sugar—the material selected reflect the Spreckels wealth and legacy—and began to sculpt a ¾ scale version of the iconic carriage, honoring both the family legacy and the city's history.
A man fueled by an artistic vision for the de Young Museum, Horn’s dedication to his craft gave way to a masterpiece. The 9 ft by 6 ft imperial carriage, Mother Load, drew inspiration from the very family who shaped the Golden City through their wealth in the sugar industry.
Timothy Horn, Mother-Load (detail), 2008, crystalized rock sugar, steel, plywood, and shellac, 72 x 108 x 66 in.
But one should not be deceived by the brilliance and detail of Horn’s work. The elaborate decoration and imposing scale of the piece reference the splendor of the sugar industry’s prime in the 1890s, while also implicitly commenting on its dark imperialistic history—namely, the exploitation that built much of the wealth surrounding sugar, from colonial plantations to the horrors of the slave trade. Horn’s style is a provocative juxtaposition: crystalline beauty and the unsettling reflection on the costs of luxury and empire.
Horn’s work merges magic with history, using ornate forms and unexpected materials to critique power, opulence, and identity, Mother Load exemplifies this approach, a glittering sculpture that is as much art as it is commentary. Rock sugar, a fragile and impermanent material hints at the fleeting nature of wealth, and the fragility of power. Horn invites us to marvel at the beauty while asking difficult questions about what that beauty is built upon. This is not just a carriage being rebuilt—it is a narrative reconstructed.
Timothy Horn, Mother-Load, 2008, crystalized rock sugar, steel, plywood, and shellac, 72 x 108 x 66 in.
Timothy Horn, Mother-Load, 2008, crystalized rock sugar, steel, plywood, and shellac, 72 x 108 x 66 in.
Timothy Horn
Born: 1964, Melbourne, Australia Lives and Works: Truro, Massachusetts, USA Education: Masters of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art; Bachelor Visual Art, Australian National University; Post-Graduate Diploma, Victorian College of the Arts; Bachelors of Fine Art, Victoria College Exhibitions (selected): 2025 - Shaping Life of Curiosity, Lisa Setter Gallery, Phoenix, AZ; 2018 - Tree of Heaven; Gorgonian, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; 2008 - Bitter Suite, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; 2021 - Forces of Nature, Renwick Gallery, SAAM, Washington D.C.; 2007 - Andy and OZ: Parallel Visions, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA; 2023 - Fairy Tales, QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia Awards, Grants, and Artist Residencies (selected): 2010 - Lux Art Institute Residency, Encinitas, CA; 2010 - Pollock-Krasner Foundation Inc. Grant; 2005 - Fine Arts Work Center Winter Residency, Provincetown, MA; 1987 - Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trust, VIC, Australia