Artist Statement
My predominant medium is fabricated metals, which allows me to explore a very wide variety of materials, styles, forms, and textures. Because of how I handle the design process, I don’t really have a consistently reoccurring subject matter as of yet. I prefer to let the goal of a project and the site guide the creative direction of the sculpture, but I rely heavily on my passion
for both organic forms found in nature and familiar everyday items to create pieces that are in harmony with both the project’s concept and the atmosphere of their surroundings. Another element I find important is an implied motion. For me, it’s not enough to just create heavy static sculpture, my goal is to create a sculpture with a dynamic presence, as if it is was stopped in the middle of some action and is about ready to burst out of its stasis in order to finish the action. I believe a sculpture should also be thought provoking, providing a unique experience, and I often create oversized pieces of stylized subject matter to allow the viewer to experience something familiar in a new way. Looking up at an object that would normally fit in the palm of your hand offers a unique perspective of that object and forces the viewer to change the way they see that object. It’s amazing how much we are creatures of habit and I find this new “view” as a way to break out some of our preconceived notions. Being able to walk around, under, or even through a piece only heightens the new experience. An underlying principle behind all of my work is the goal of encouraging public interaction with a piece. I prefer to view my art as something that should be touched and physically interacted with during the course of everyday life and I use size, textures, layers, lighting, and finishes to entice people to come closer to the piece, touch it, even sit on to rest or eat lunch. For me, textures and layers are the most important element in a sculpture, in fact, they’re everything. Light is so boring without them. Textures and Layers add depth, shadows, and highlights which are what I feel define a sculpture. It’s these qualities that draw us in to take a closer look to explore a sculpture further and I strive to manipulate these qualities to make a sculpture that is intriguing both from a distance and close up.
