Shechet created each of the sculptures in her Together series in the round, without a flat bottom. The works perch, slump, drip, or otherwise balance atop powder-coated steel supports, as seen here in Together: 9 a.m. The artist created these supports from pieces of metal that she found and repurposed in her studio, and throughout the Together series they act as a fixed, linear mediator between the organic sculptural form and the flat, level ground. She often paints these bases bright colors, creating intentional “conversations between the support and the sculpture,” and making them integral aspects of the ceramic works themselves. 

Together: 9 a.m. is the “seed” which inspired the outdoor work, As April, located just below Museum Hill leading out to the allée. In viewing the two together, we see the large sculpture’s floating shapes echoed in 9 a.m.’s glazed form. With the outdoor work, Shechet transfigures the ceramic’s metal support on a monumental scale. As April touches the earth at four points, its lower section folding out horizontally from various perspectives while appearing more vertical in others.