"Mezhirich Totems," welded steel.
Just as a writer utilizes language to describe any given idea or topic, so I use my medium to address things I find of interest. One is perhaps given more freedom in the mode of expression I have chosen to use, since it is abstract and the rules of its use are not as rigid. I feel freer with the language of sculpture, drawing on contemporary and past artistic vernacular, and if possible, bringing into use my own invented colloquialism, than I would with say the English language. A working knowledge of the material with its inherent strengths and limitations is crucial to the development of a coherent and cohesive execution of intention. The structural integrity of steel is elemental to my ability to convey motion and energy through my sculptures. Blacksmithing, working the steel with forge, anvil, and hammer, allows me to impart more of my own hand to the piece thereby personalizing the work more thoroughly. The acquisition of new tools, materials, and techniques expand my ability to communicate more creatively within the sculptural language. By turning the steel to a malleable state where it is easily shaped and bent a greater freedom is achieved; a freedom to invent shapes which characterize rhythms, unlikely structural elements, and in some cases a more capricious nature. An early interest in the natural world and figurative art-making finds its way almost unconsciously into my work, revealing objects whose origins may be organic or anthropomorphic. Twisting lines and knotted bars with their misshapen or sharpened ends at times evoke visceral, bone-like, or muscular impressions while alternately resembling the flight of birds or the contorted growth of plant-life.