Artist Statement
As an artist, the interplay between line, form and structure is what captures my attention, stimulates my imagination, and allows me an expression of my personal experience. I tend to think in images, and creating a sculpture allows me to express what words occasionally will not.
Through my sculptures there are times I’m very consciously attempting to capture a moment, an experience or an insight. Such was the case with Ariel and Monk. Ariel was inspired by an actor in the play Tempest who had a huge mane of hair that I felt compelled to capture. Monk, on the other hand, was a result of an image that emerged for me as I observed the relationship between an architectural form and the shrubbery surrounding it. At other times, my sculptures provide a means for me to gain greater understanding of myself. For example, as I worked on the sculpture Balance, I realized I was working through a feeling of being out of balance at a time in my life when I was going through great transition.
The concept of connection is a common theme in my work. I explore it at a multitude of levels. Perhaps the most fundamental level is in my choice of media. Working with stone and clay I’m working with the crust of the earth and feel a strong sense of honoring that primordial connection we humans have with the earth that sustains us. My figurative sculptures of the human form, whether expressinistic or more representational, are a study of the interplay between the masculine and feminine; the relationship between feminine beauty and strength; and an exploration of the multiple dimensions of what it is to be human. Carving animal and bird sculptures provides a heartfelt connection with all of nature’s creatures: I’m touched by the tenderness and sweetness that is in even the wildest of animals.
As much as connection is my theme, contrast is my stimulus. I’m moved and inspired by both the rawness and the serene beauty of nature. With most of my sculptures I look for ways to leave at least part of the stone un-worked; a part of the sculpture un-finished. This technique helps to reveal the power of stone juxtaposed with the sensuous, supple and often tender quality of the finished piece.