ARTIST STATEMENT

The ideas behind my work stem from a fascination with the primary quality of Pre-Columbian pottery, mechanisms and forms of the human body and objects from the industrial world. These elements are intuitively mixed and mashed to generate universal forms that have familiarity and feel new, yet retain a link to the past and a hint of identity. New work seems to grow from the previous and possesses some unknown function. That mystery captures my interest and gives the work a chance for dialogue or interpretation.

The work often deals with parts, arms, or appendages that connect with pins, ball joints, or slots. Nestling or fitting one form into another is of great concern and requires engineering. Utilizing clay parts not only satisfies my artistic sensibilities, it also full-fills a need to express the importance of mechanics and working with tools.

Growing up in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, the exposure to steel and automotive industries coupled with decay of "Downtown Detroit" impressed on me the effects of industrial weathering and age. The family trips to Northern Michigan exposed me to the weathering of the natural world through lichen, mosses, shorelines, dramatic season changes, Petoskey stones, and the mixes of birch and conifers. These memories and experiences are a vital part of my work’s surface texture and glaze color palette.

To me clay is alive when it is wet or still leather hard. Something happens when the water dries out. Suddenly the skin is no longer life-like. There is a magic that exists mostly in the leather hard state that excites me. It’s cool and leather skin has density and reflects light with rich values. In the past, capturing that essence with terra sigilatta allowed me to get close to that "alive" feeling personified by the sculptures. The glaze colors and surfaces that I have developed allow my current work to transcend time and place by existing in the present but often times feeling weathered, referencing a previous existence. Use of pattern and color instills an energy bringing the sculptures back to life.

In any three dimensional artistic endeavor, formal aesthetics such as visual weight, volume, line, texture, symmetry and balance can play an important role. Often times, I work with these elements and principals to develop visual stability and tension within my work. The influence of my sense humor balances the formality created through design, craftsmanship and engineering of the sculptures. This intriguing point of contrast between my work and my personality communicates a sense of honesty and accessibility.