FINALLY SOME IMAGES!

Alright, I have been very busy this semester.  I am still harvesting materials from the landscape but I am also implementing metal and nylon into these works.  I also included my Plaster carving because hell, that was the last thing I was working on at Linfield.  

 These images are of a couple cocoons attached to a weathered piece of wood.  I was reading Rebecca Solnit's book A field Guide to Getting Lost, and on page 83 she talks about the process of transformation consists of mostly decay and if a chrysalis were to be cut open it would contain a rotting caterpillar inside.  This hit me like a truck!  I loved the idea of something decaying inside a enclosed space so I tried to replicate it.  

 Whole Piece.

Close-up of one of the cocoons.

 Here is my plaster carving.  I was a little upset that the tail broke when I was trying to create some negative space but now I can really play with the amount of space between the main piece and the tail end.

 One of my metal and found wood pieces, was playing around with the "trash" pieces from the next piece and made this piece.

 This piece was fun to make, it started out as a heart in my head.  When I began forming the metal it changed to lungs.  Now I have no idea what it is, but I like it.  There are some welding rods piercing through the metal.  Recently, I have burnt the rods so they no longer have that bright copper look to them.

 Here is the same piece from the other side.  (Flash I know!)  Still trying to figure out Photoshop please keep this in mind.

 Close-up of the rods, they remind me of the voodoo pins.  Like I said previously, they are no longer that bold copper color.

 Here is my latest piece, I found the stump by the Rio Grand River and I could not leave it behind.

 I formed more metal and used a patina on it in order to move away from the metal-ness of it.

 Really like this, I filled panty-hoes with packing peanuts and then cut some small holes in the first layer of nylon, creating a punctured intestine appearance.  Also working with the idea of parasites and how they burrow into something and take it over inside out.

Here is an image of the back end of the piece so to speak.  It has plenty of that worm-intestine squirming around under layers of metal.  A whole lot going on.

Well, as you can see I have begun using metal again.  I really enjoy forming the metal and learning new techniques as often as I can pester the Mattox woodshop/metalshop manager Justin.

A few draw backs

Well, been a while since I have last posted.  I have run into a few issues, bought a Canon Rebel camera and found out it is not compatible with my current operating system.  Had to upgrade my Mac, hopefully it will come soon and I can upload some images of my work and what I am doing.  I am doing something slightly different than when I was at Linfield, I am still harvesting materials and building relationships with my materials but instead of making pieces look like organs and whatnot I am using the organs as reference points and allowing the material to really shine.

Here is my latest artist statement:

This body of work expresses my interest in harvesting abandoned objects from both rural and urban landscapes.  Immediately, upon discovery I seek to build a relationship with the object.  I perceive the life it once had.  My intent is not to dominate the object or to absolve it of all its previous experience; instead I use my intuition and awareness of the material to resurrect life back into the object.  I harvest items because I do not wish to be wasteful, I am a firm believer in reconstituting items in order to give them purpose again.

The biggest influence in my work is Biology, I often refer to human anatomy or the physiologies of other organisms when constructing my pieces.  I am apart of the figurative legacy passed down through many artists, however due to my age I interpret these forms differently.  I choose to create forms form humble materials in order to demonstrate the level of sensitivity I have towards my materials.

Anyway, I will get my images uploaded as soon as I can!  When my operating system gets updated and I get Photoshop downloaded I will have my images up.