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Primary Media Is Wood Carving evolving from the
techniques origially used for block printing.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Most of my work revolves around the tensions
between two dichotomous worlds: the external landscape (as we see the world around us), and the inner self (which is a landscape
of its own). This inner world tends to control our perceptions of the outside world. As theologian Philip Sheldrake writes
"the concept of place refers not simply to geographical location but to a dialectical relationship between environment and
human narrative.” The external landscape exists in tension with the inner self, and the meaning of place is constructed by
the interpenetration of these two worlds. Through the use of images associated with these different frames of reference, sometimes
simplified and at other times abstracted, I seek to convey the dialogue between these two levels of perception. I juxtapose
and interweave emblems of the external landscape such as trees, mountains, suns, and clouds with iconography associated with
the internal likenesses of bones, eyes, heads, and other embodiments. My hope is that the viewer will sense a spiritual direction
across these two planes of our existence and be inclined to contemplate the meaning as it applies to their own movement. This
relationship to the viewer is important, for I follow many critics, most notably Roland Barthes, who believe that when a work
leaves the artist’s studio, the image belongs to the viewer for the duration they spend with the work: for this time, the
piece is theirs.
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To Let Go
Media - Wood Block
72"x60"x1"
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