Fellowships 2018

As a visual artist, I express my worldview through the creation of objects, bringing my personal observations into three dimensions. Transforming these internal ruminations into sculpture is at the core of my art practice. Driven by creative content and drawing from many sculptural materials and disciplines, I strive to produce visually compelling and thought-provoking works of art.

Contemporary American culture is the subject of much of my work and is reflected in multi-layered installations exploring the subjects of teen alienation, gender stereotypes, and the disparities of faith. Most recently, as I have been immersed in the mental and physical challenges of an elderly parent, the subject of aging is a daily concern. This disquiet is now becoming a body of work addressing issues that include the over­medication of our country’s senior citizens as well as the subject of physical mobility and the loss of independence. Realizing, of course, that many elders continue to be active and productive, the next phase of The Aging Project will include a more light-hearted look into a stage of life that only the lucky among us will experience.

I have amassed and manipulated eggshells, cell phones, sheep’s wool and many other materials to manifest my creative visions. I have also worked with conventional materials using self-taught, unorthodox techniques. The challenge of working with new and unfamiliar materials is a stimulating part of my practice. Consulting an expert in another field or taking a technical workshop is often part of a new project. My diverse body of work does not exhibit a singular visual style, but is consistently informed by my desire to provoke a reexamination of the familiar, often by the application of materials that might seem at odds with the subject. My exploration of aging, that process that affects us all in quite tangible and personal ways, includes the sculpture Part D, created entirely outside my studio using state of the art fabrication technology, a reflection of how the demise of the body can now often seem outsourced to the interventions of medical technology.

I like to think that my thoughts and preoccupations are at least familiar and perhaps universal. However, what I strive to do is to create images and objects that compel the viewer to re-think the familiar in ways that are novel, arresting and, at times, challenging. To do this I have to challenge myself to understand in depth the subject I’m exploring, the object I seek to create and the impact of the piece on the viewer. Just as a book is not complete without a reader, I feel that art is most complete when it can impact the viewer in ways that are both compelling and thought-provoking. The drive to create that chemistry in new and surprising ways is what informs both my existing body of work and my creative process going forward.

2017
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