ARTIST
STATEMENT
The
sculpture I create is the result of a long process,
the residue created by my striving for knowledge. My
art is more than a completed object and an inquiry of
form and materials, but also the manifestation of the
knowledge acquired by the process, which is necessary
to create the work. The formal pieces of sculpture I
make refer to function but possess their own authority
as objects and instigate a sense of contemplation and
to intrigue in the viewer. I draw on the history of
industrialization, machine technology, tools and architecture
in order to utilize the sense of wonder associated with
functional objects of antiquity. Through explorations
of such physical realities as tension, torsion, compression
and motion, an infinite variety of dynamic relationships
are created in the context of an industrial aesthetic;
the work in conjunction with the viewer's response,
commands its own sense of history. I do not define the
history, but rather I invite the viewer to experience
the work from his or her own unique perspectives allowing
for individual responsive interpretation.
My intent is to activate a realm where the reactionary
response to the work is as significant as the object
itself and which somehow communicates to ones' own experiences.
The sculpture transcends the notion of function to that
of form and content. The use of familiar shapes and
forms provides an access point for broader audiences.
Because I have a particular intrigue and connection
to blue-collar laborers, I draw reference from the man
made world of architecture, highway construction and
industrialization of mass production. This intrigue
also influences my choice of forms, materials and processes.
The
forms, geometric and symmetrical in essence speak of
crude yet functional components from a larger mechanical
system, alluding to an era gone by; the industrial revolution.
These forms are somewhat abstracted and simplified and
only refer to mechanical components rather than recreating
actual existing objects. The materials are chosen for
their inherent colors, textures and their appropriateness
and inappropriateness for the forms I create. Rough-hewn
wood, blackened steel and bronze have certain appropriateness
to industrial castoffs, however the glass doesn't. A
material associated with fragility, the use of glass
has a particular inappropriateness in the context of
machine parts, which contributes to the overall mystery
of the objects. I push the roughness inherent to each
material in order to add richness and an artificial
history to the completed piece. The end result is a
complex fabricated sculpture layered with a raw essence
of materials and an ambiguous familiarity.
