march 2021 30
WBM
“This is a frozen
ocean storm, an
obstacle course of
crazy,” says Risser,
who hauled in
thousands of
pounds of steel,
shoveled dirt,
welded many
reels of wire, and
hand rolled all
the coping to
attain his vision.
Maybe the
workload was too
much. What-ever
the reason,
he had a heart
attack on the
property in 2016
that required
quintuple-bypass
surgery.
Risser had
complained to
his doctors about
heart issues for
12 years, but he
passed every
test and they could never find anything wrong. The doctors told
him that skateboarding had saved his life, as he had created his own
bypass (collaterals) around many of the blockages.
Since the heart attack, much of Risser’s work has featured hearts
at the center or as a theme. It would seem like a no-brainer to think
that the name of the gardens points to this, but it was named before
that happened.
“It is the kind of place where we sow joy, so we named it Heartseed
Gardens,” Risser says.
If his work looks familiar, it could be because two of his sculptures
are located at Greenfield Grind Skate Park in Wilmington. Many of
his heart-centered pieces are featured at major medical centers, and
some of his earlier work can be found all over Greensboro. Risser is a
graduate of Guilford College and a lot of people there appreciate his
work.
Risser is often asked to do commissioned pieces, but he usually
says no. The legacy he leaves behind and the simple joy that comes
from creating a work of art, just for the sake of creating a work of art,
are more interesting concepts.
Top to bottom: Life and Death, created in 2019, and Permanent Waves,
created in 2017, are installed among the trees on Tom Risser’s 80-acre
property, Heartseed Gardens.
Heartseed Gardens§
§ TOM RISSER TOM RISSER