Some say the word tango comes from the Latin, tangere, which means to touch. Richard MacDonald’s recently completed Tango Series employ that definition on many levels. While the studies depict a couple touching at various stages of their passionate dance, the touch of the artist’s hand remains palpable in the works as if he has just now put down his tools and stepped away. Always absorbed by human theater, MacDonald gravitated to dancer Jordi Caballero whose authentic and entertaining Latin-based choreography is internationally known. Joined by his partner Zita Gonzalez, Jordi inspired MacDonald to begin a series of works that examine the tango’s sensual composition. Like the dancers, the studies portray the steps and tensions of seduction. While he works, the artist becomes part of the dance, and the finished sculptures contain the tango’s energy even as his fascination with surface suggests the dance’s symbolic obsession. The Tango Series expresses an intriguing variation of mood and movement, and in Tango Study I, MacDonald captures the couple in a total embrace, or abrazo. You can hear the familiar tempo and melodic phrasing of tango music as you view it. Viewed together, the Tango studies make a moving statement about love and fatality, joy and sorrow.