Artist’s Statement

I am interested in places, spaces, and forms that are timeless, elemental, and new.  My work attempts to transform something familiar into that which is unfamiliar; engaging our memories by revealing something abstract, energized, and elegant from that which we have known.  The structure of my work's evolution has been a sequence of series.  One series morphs into the next.   The constant in all of the work is the medium, which is welded steel with a blackened finish. 

Figures: My exploration of figures has focused on the fragment, and the potential of the fragment to engage our memories and allow those memories to complete the whole.  The figurative pieces that I have done have been the catalyst for my subsequent work.

Stalks: The stalks were generated from the figurative forms, and evolved into abstractions of organic shapes and primitive tools.  They are scaled to the height of the human proportion such that they engage us spatially.   With the stalks I am attempting to link my interests in architecture and sculpture by representing a sense of place with sculptural objects.   My long term intent for this series is to compose a large number of them in a small room; creating a very dense space. 

Weapons: The weapons started as a smaller scale study for the stalks.  This series was the first in which I explored the dynamics of forms that are simultaneously organic and mechanical. The tension between the organic and mechanical is not only energizing for me, but also very human.   My intent was to make weapons as art; where the primary function was art, and the function from which they were derived was a memory.

Totems: This series makes a strong reference back to the figurative form and proportion, while continuing to investigate the relationship between the organic and the mechanical. 

Hulls: The form of the hull is rooted in my experience with sailboats.  This elemental form is spatial by nature, creating a sense of shelter on the water.  Like the stalks, they are objects attempting to represent space and place.