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Sculpture
My sculptures explore the emotions through allegory, mythology,
fairy tales and natural forms. Whether in mixed media, clay or bronze,
figurative or abstract; the work always alludes to the passage of
time. Time is mortality, endurance, vulnerability, and interconnectedness.
The sculptures explore triumphs and losses through
mythic figures and gods, as in Icarus and Demeter’s
Sorrow. Woe, Lies II, and Mask expose our nightmare fears.
Each face symbolizing all faces, each line and eyelash telling a
tale, whether the words are screamed or whispered.
Some sculptures show the concave and the convex of
a face, each side shaped by, but hidden from, the other. The positive
and negative are unified with earth colors and natural textures
to illustrate our sunlight and shadow selves. The shells and branches,
hornets’ nests and rocks, draped fabric and feathers are all
sculpted directly in clay, not from molds. When text is added, as
in Recto Verso, it is unmistakably language, but indecipherable:
like hearing people speak without knowing precisely what they are
saying.
The figurative pieces are sculpted directly in clay
and either fired or cast in bronze.
Mixed Media
Assemblages
We are a culture of acquirers and discarders, but
instead of tossing away those acquisitions, I turn them into sculptures,
altered mostly by juxtaposition. The process of making these sculptures
is obsessive; from seeking out, selecting and acquiring each of
the antique components, to their manipulation into new forms.
You may relate to individual items (my mother had
one of those darning eggs),
be puzzled by others (not everyone knows what a calf weaner looks
like), and
you may even recall throwing away things that were in better shape
than these.
These assemblages invite examination into what we
value.
Note: The title of the feather and shell wall sculptures,
“Mandala” is Sanskrit for “circle”. Traditional
mandalas are used in Hindui and Buddhist meditative rituals.
Photography
The Shadows of Istanbul photographs were taken during
my first time in that part of the world, and my first time entering
a mosque. The sights of Istanbul are as layered as its history:
pagan then Christian then Muslim. There are few “simple”
images here.
Intense sunlight is shrouded in mist from the Golden
Horn, the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara. It blazes through doorways
and windows into the mosques’ dark interiors, transforming
“ancient” from concept to visceral experience. Scarves
wrap heads, tarps cover marketplaces; Sultans’ signatures obscure
angels’ faces, the veils emphasize that which they conceal.
Italia
I’m attracted to the grandeur of urban chaos, the interplay
of expected and unexpected, the drama that can be found in the ordinary.
This work was all photographed in Tuscany, a perfect locale for
exploring the confluence of ancient and modern cultures.
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