Sculpture

Through my sculpture, I present the things in my life that I feel are worth glorifying.

Most of this work is the result of time spent investigating the connection between myself, and natural bodies of water. All of the places in my life that I have found to be the most sacred and spiritual are located near bodies of water.  This work speaks of that connection and those specific places. The presence of water forms a baseline to my existence, a constant leveling, and stabilizing force. I have chosen to use the concept of leveling as a tool for exploration of the landscape, the human figure, and myself.

While living in the man made landscape of the city, I feel a certain disjunction with the natural side of my body, and I feel a reconnection with this whenever I am in or near water. While the presence of water grounds me, the endless level horizion speaks of the unknown, the sublime, and the boundaries of our humanity.  These places more than anything else, serve, as my proof that there is something much bigger and more powerful than us in this world.   I try to develop a personal mythology that uses water as a means of transcendence.  The figure becomes a representation of the modern human and speaks of the relationship between us and nature, and the disjuncture between the two that many feel. The Materials are important in my work for they represent the specific places I have felt to be sacred. I try to use materials from these actual places in the works,  such as river and ocean water, clay, sand, homemade walnut inks and rust.  The use of cast iron in this work was chosen for it’s natural reactions to water. While polished iron speaks of industry, the rusting speaks of a regression, back into a natural cycle.  I try to create opportunities to showcase examples of nature’s perfection in the work, while simultaneously referencing its effect on me.

Another idea in my work revolves around the idea of displacement. I try to better understand form and mass through displacing it in water, and using it to describe a particular topography. Here water becomes a sculptural tool, aiding in the discovery of form, shape and mass, while simultaneously presenting itself as an artwork and an answer.

Dreams also play a large part in the subject matter in my older work. I feel dreams are valuable in understanding personal truths, as well as acting as warnings of things to come. Images that are in my dreams manifest themselves in my work, for the dream, the art, and the myth all are from the same sub-conscience realm.

If this work accomplishes anything, I hope that it shows the possibilities of looking inward, and the value of using what you find, to better understand yourself and the world.