"Repose" 1986 12'x12'x3' carved sandstone slab
Art, the alchemy begins from the simplest of things, the placement of stones, arrangement of sticks and paper, one line and its relation to another to another and the next smudge. The tension in the space between objects, in the difference between a red and a white stick. The question is when do I add an object and how it relates, how can I justify that intrusion.
Sculpture is my first language and my early work was influenced in a large part by Noguchi, his placement of forms spoke to me, no, really sang to me. I kept wondering to myself “does anyone else see this? the subtlety of the forms and colors, and the tranquility. I was really drawn into what could be said with sculpture, the poetry of the forms. Beyond beauty and grace, what could I say about the reality of my world or the world as I see it?
That world for me is along the margins of life. Unused land, vacant lots, the places we don’t want to look. I’ve had clear eyes and an open heart for the past 35 years, but was sick and poor and rootless before that and feel an affinity with the resource poor and refugees, so addiction, mental health and homelessness show up often in my work. My work now is lean and raw, unkempt. materials are mundane, sticks, paper, epoxy, colored chalk and charcoal. As a sculptor, I use forms and materials as a poet uses language, or a musician uses notes, beats and rests. In the same way I’m trying to elicit a feeling, or make a statement with form, color, placement. And as my subjects are unrefined my methods and materials consciously reflect that.
There is a delicacy with being on the edge of poverty, the knife edge of homelessness. Where the smallest survival chore seems insurmountable, where missing an appointment, missing a bus can cost freedom. In the same way the smallest detail, a few sticks, some paper, a twist of wire and maybe some dust, can begin to say so much. I begin to build from that.
"Posturing" 1996 200 s ft x 4 ft. Sandstone installation
