Artist Statement-
My work has always been driven by form, line and balance. In my early work, what guided me was a desire to create pieces with balance and interesting shape. Despite this, people often looked at my purely abstract work and found, within the lines and form, representations of images. Despite the certainty of many viewers that a particular sculpture was of a bird, a person, a bed or a meadow, this occurred only as an accident: it was rare that I set out to represent an object. Recently, however, I have found myself drawn to imagery. In particular, I am drawn to images from nature. While my work remains abstract, it is no longer accident that one sees images, particularly animals, within.
I have always worked with metal and find I am drawn to how substantial and permanent this material is. Most of my sculptures begin as a sketch. I sketch frequently and find that very few, perhaps one in fifty, becomes a sculpture. After days or weeks of sketching, I will peruse my work for the most interesting of the sketches and these will be drawn in chalk, full size, on my work table. Next, I begin laying out metal, reconfiguring the sculpture as I lay it out to meet the properties of the material. Once I am happy with placement, I begin spot welding the pieces, allowing me an opportunity to see its three-dimensional form. As I do this, I again reconfigure the work to maintain balance. When I am happy with the form, I do final welding, grinding and finishing of the materials to give the piece a polished appearance designed to stand the test of time.
My work has always been driven by form, line and balance. In my early work, what guided me was a desire to create pieces with balance and interesting shape. Despite this, people often looked at my purely abstract work and found, within the lines and form, representations of images. Despite the certainty of many viewers that a particular sculpture was of a bird, a person, a bed or a meadow, this occurred only as an accident: it was rare that I set out to represent an object. Recently, however, I have found myself drawn to imagery. In particular, I am drawn to images from nature. While my work remains abstract, it is no longer accident that one sees images, particularly animals, within.
I have always worked with metal and find I am drawn to how substantial and permanent this material is. Most of my sculptures begin as a sketch. I sketch frequently and find that very few, perhaps one in fifty, becomes a sculpture. After days or weeks of sketching, I will peruse my work for the most interesting of the sketches and these will be drawn in chalk, full size, on my work table. Next, I begin laying out metal, reconfiguring the sculpture as I lay it out to meet the properties of the material. Once I am happy with placement, I begin spot welding the pieces, allowing me an opportunity to see its three-dimensional form. As I do this, I again reconfigure the work to maintain balance. When I am happy with the form, I do final welding, grinding and finishing of the materials to give the piece a polished appearance designed to stand the test of time.