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I work with many different materials, but the things which attract me to each, and the final sculptures are all closely related. For me, art is an intensification of nature. By this I mean that my art is the process of taking from a natural object, the qualities which seem most beautiful to me, and expanding those qualities to create a sculpture or painting. The theme of nature in my work is not truly a conscious goal. It seems to be more of an intuitive outcome of everything I create. Nature creates objects of such complexity, originality, and beauty, that the human mind is at a loss to compete. My amazement and wonder in the face of these creations is the reason behind my focus on nature in my work. I am interested in the shapes and textures of organic matter such as fossils, shells, and bones. The force of life and growth in animals and plants fascinates me. Landscapes such as mountains and forests are also a common subject of my art. My sculptures and paintings are abstracted from these natural objects in my efforts to find and portray what seems to me to be the most central and vital part of my subject. Like the subject matter of my work, the materials I use in my sculptures and paintings are natural. Each element, stone, water, fiber, or clay, has a beauty of its own before I ever begin to manipulate it. I try to integrate my impression of the most beautiful qualities of each material with the effects of natural weathering and a manual process of sculpting that material. My sculptures become a collaboration between myself and nature. |
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My
sculpture reflects an intense relationship between myself and the material
with which I am working. This relationship is based on my reactions
and responses to the material, the marks I make in it, and my own ideas.
I continue to learn about myself and my material as the relationship
progresses. Every piece I create is an experiment. I am never sure of
exactly what I am going to do, or how it may change me or my work. I
never know, when I begin, what my finished piece will look like.