About

Artist Statement

The work is generally figurative but informed by found materials and a bit of fantasy. The impetus for the work generally starts with a piece of wood or metal and proceeds in layers of attached weaving. Although sometimes the weaving originates In my collections of recycled materials. I have used Champagne wire bails (the part that holds the cork on) in a series of vertebra sculptures. Glass beads, plastic fish, wooden harmonic instruments  have shown up in various pieces as a reference to a narrative that I have construed to the art piece. 

At this stage in my life, I am emboldened in my art, to use my collections of flotsam and jetsam find a way in to my art or the landfill. In working to reduce my own collections it has become a personal archeological dig with an investigation of the objects original siren call and its possible transformation.  

Biography

I am a native Californian, a baby boomer and a born scavenger. I also wander around the world scavenging new experiences. In the early 90's through 00's I explored the figure in sculpture -stone, cast bronze, ceramic, mixed media and eventually copper wire and wood. I was riding a wave of art making when I was thrown a curve ball. I was asked to become partner in a small company (CMS Collaborative Inc.) whose directive is designing water features. I accepted and have spent the last 15 years facilitating the design of some very prominent water feature projects in the United States. I have also had the privilege of working with note worthy architects and landscape architects whose work is admired around the world. My experience running a business and being exposed to world class artful minds educated me in the art of viewing and I consider this period of time, an incubation period. I retired from CMS last year, 31 December. Now, I am ready, after a long hiatus, for my own art making. 

In recent work, I use copper wire, bronze casts and found wood, scavenged materials. I gather and I collect. My work is figurative, in a kind of twisted way. The instigator of an idea can often be a curve or fold in the branches or trunks that remind me of the silhouette of a figure or the movement of a figure. The pieces sometimes take on a kind of mythic narrative that sometimes have a historic precedent but are more often in the realm of pure fantasy.  There is a connection to hand work like basketry and weaving and certainly the story of a piece is often imbued in the rhythm of making.  

Making has always given me satisfaction, making food, making friends and making art. Making is the wellspring where ideas meet the physical world, and there, it can generate a spark that may thrive and become a thing or it may die an ignoble death. Either way the process is connects me to a legacy of making.

Education

Phoebe Adams, Master Artist Workshop, Marion Scholarship Santa Fe Art Institute, NM 1997

Manual Neri, Master Artist Workshop, Marion Scholarship Santa Fe Art Institute, NM 1996

Daniel Clayman, Sculpture Workshop-RISD Providence, RI-1996

Olinka Granz,Intensive Sculpture Workshop-Granz Studio, Czech Republic -1995