I see powerful visual connections among the human form, the planet Earth, the solar system, the universe and life at the microscopic level. In my work, the form of the human body becomes a metaphor for life along this spectrum of differing scales. For example, to me the egg can also be a planet or a seed or a cell, all four being basically the same functioning entity viewed from different vantage points. The molecular level within the body mirrors the form of the universe beyond. I see the emotional and physical energy within a person as part of the same energy that keeps our planet circling the sun. This enormous and interconnected story is the one I tell in my work and it is embodied by the metamorphic quality of my primary material, marble.
Part of what makes marble a compelling medium for me is its history. Hundreds of millions of years ago sea creatures lived, died and left their remains on the sea-bed. Over millions of years these deposits built up in thickness and weight, creating limestone. As the Earth’s tectonic plates shifted, collided and lifted each other up, the world’s mountain ranges were created. The immense pressure and heat from this movement metamorphosed the limestone into marble while raising it to the mountain peaks. The Galisteo Basin, where I live and work, is an ancient sea-bed lifted, along with the Rocky Mountains, to over a mile above sea-level. Spanning the millennia, stone sculpture all over the world has been and will be eroded by wind and rain, gradually returning to the sea-bed. I believe my sculptures and their stories are in confluence with the natural life journey of marble.
As a medium, I’m enchanted by the inherent surprises I find when carving marble, some of which are: color, light, crystal structure and veining. And, after the initial shock, it never fails to amaze and delight me when the stone breaks and requires a change in course. I also appreciate the challenge of having to think inside-out, since the making of stone sculpture is a process of removal and discovery with no turning back. The physical process of carving also gives me an emotional connection to other artists throughout time.
The most powerful art for me has always involved the human figure. The stone sculpture of the Olmec, Aztec, Zapotec and Cambodian people as well as the Indian cave sculpture of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, are older examples of art that deeply move me. Other influential sculptors for me are Bernini, Michelangelo, Rodin, Camile Claudel, Giacometti, Henry Moore, Francisco Zuniga, Allan Houser and Novello Finotti. As my understanding of their work deepens, I realize that expanding my knowledge of human expression is limitless.
It is deeply satisfying for me to think that I can study the human form for the rest of my life and always have more to learn. In my work I consider anatomy in all its reaches, from the structure and choreography of the bones and the miracle of movement and emotional expression to as far afield as the human genome and on through quantum physics and chaos theory as each relate to the human body. From my perspective, this entire continuum of scale from infinitely large to the sub-atomic level, flows back into my sculpture. With this in mind, some of the things about the process of sculpture that delight me the most are: the body in motion; the exquisite balance between the expression of the face and the expression of the hands and, of great personal significance, the creative mobius-strip of my hand-of-flesh making the hand-of-stone. Underlying all of my work is my need to tell the stories of creation and life through the human form.
Some Businesses I work with and appreciate are:
Galisteo Studio Tour - This site shows work from a group of artists in my community.
Justin Robert Galleries - This site shows my work and several other international artists
Viselaya Sculpture Competition - This is a biannual show in which I've shown twice and recieved awards for my work.
Commonweal Conservancy - I have been commissioned by this organization for large, public sculpture.
National Sculpture Society - I am a member of this organization and have shown my work at their headquarters in New York City
Polycor - This is a large, national stone supplier with whom I do business
Sculptor's Dominion - This is an annual show in San Antonio, Texas of sculptors from around the world and where I have shown
Evergreen Sculpture Walk - This is an annual show in Colorodo where I have shown my work
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