For Greater Deeps, Adkins visited North Carolina in early January, 2001 to complete several new works inspired by the life of the noted 19th century abolitionist John Brown–surmising what may have happened if Brown was successful in his campaign to wage a holy war against the pro-slavery factions in this country. We remember Brown’s plan to capture the U.S. armory at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia resulted in his capture and death by hanging in 1859, but many of us know little else about the man. Adkins uses the story of John Brown’s life as a point of departure, allowing the associations of objects and materials to subtly reveal deeper and more universal elements.
 

Adkins locates salvaged materials that, in his hands, resonate with historical significance–to create his poetic works. A gifted conductor, the artist encourages the hidden qualities of these old instrument forms, corroded steel parts, splintered wood planks or strands of fleece to sing out and, in the process of doing so, creates symbolic works that provoke powerful spiritual and emotional responses. 

Adkins began studying Brown’s life in 1998 while in residence at the University of Akron.  The artist learned that John Brown had spent part of his youth in the nearby town of Hudson, Ohio. Adkins’ research into Brown’s early years convinced him that here was the site of Brown’s divine calling. We see evidence of that in Divine Mute, a large rounded metal work that uses the bell of a sousaphone surrounded by eight smaller discs like a series of loudspeakers blaring down from the sky. During biblical times, divine revelations were thought to be accompanied by loud noises or bright lights. 
 

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The exhibition was on view at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in 2001.