|
I make sculpture from the vestiges of the American
industrial past, leavings from an age when the mighty
machine of industry churned out iron objects that to me have
become artifacts of a lost age.
I mate these metal objects with the other forgotten
residue of our past, the bodies of old growth Douglas fir
trees, some of which were left where they lay, as the supply
must have seemed endless.
If conditions are right, and the great tree fell on a dry
sunny slope, the outer layer survives the ravages of time
and can be carefully peeled away from the rotting core and
resurrected, retaining all the volume of the massive tree
without the weight.
I call these artifacts tree skins and also consider them
leavings of the industrial age, thus my term Post Industrial
sculpture. I also work with the kindling and firewood with
which we heat our house. For many of my split wood pieces I
take inspiration from Native American artifacts and try to
echo some vestige of their tenure in this land, since, in a
real sense, they were victims of the industrial age.
I find the mating of man-made artifacts and natural
objects, with their surprising similarities of texture,
patina and color, to be a poignant critique of an age when
humanity ran with roughshod exuberance over this fragile
land.
| 