Among the philosophies I have accumulated over the years is a belief that if there is no passion in what you do, you must do something else. I also believe the best time to change is when things are going well, not when motivated by anxiety or desperation.
At the height of an executive career that had yielded the rank of Senior Vice President at one of the world’s largest financial institutions and a staff of 800 people, I looked appreciatively around a rosewood appointed office, but realized I had no passion. So I quit … within two weeks and without knowing exactly what I was to do.
Until then, I had limited art to a background role in my life, unconscious of enormous creative energies that had drown in captivity and were greatly anxious for release. In a more spontaneous environment, it became clear that sculpting was the channel for this release, and my passion had been found.
I have been a ‘virtual sculptor’ for a very long time. Even in the third grade, shy and humiliated because I couldn’t draw a requisite Thanksgiving turkey, I went home and sculpted one in crate paper and feathers.
Sculpting is a vital means for me to blend and express artistic and social feelings. “Make art not landfill” is a strong underlying framework. However, within a contest of re-used materials, I don’t simply elevate the mundane. I do re-employ once functional objects and industrial detritus in what I feel is form and grace. I feel I’ve succeeded if the viewer first has an instinctive response to the overall movement, balance, character or humor of a work. I don’t feel I’ve succeeded if the first response is to mentally trace the origin of the work’s component parts.
Grace, energy, juxtaposition, balance, tension and flow, humor, intrigue…these are forces important in life and art. They are the expressions that I hope are sensed in what I do.
Photos and press release for this artist.