January 30, 2009

Artist's statement. Writing an artist's statement is always difficult for me. I came to art after a full career as a college professor in geography. Thus I got a late start and sometimes feel as though I have several decades of catching-up to do - several decades of artistic expression backed up in me.

Let me start simply. I work in clay, and I do mostly figurative work - "figures" meaning both human and animal subjects. My style tends toward the realistic, but there can also be some abstraction and sometimes humor. I am fascinated by people's faces and have done quite a few portraits of people - not commissioned portraits, but interesting faces that I see in newspapers, on the street, or composites of various facial characteristics. I am also impressed by the subtle nuances of body language that we humans are sensitive to, and I try to incorporate those details of unspoken - maybe unconscious - communication in my sculpture.

Inevitably, as with most artists, my sculpture is a reflection of things that interest me, and I try to communicate whatever that quality is that fascinates me to people who see my work. The best part is, though, that each person sees the world through her/his own unique lens, and so in looking at art, we all project our own personal interpretations and meanings onto it. I makes little difference what I intended to say in a sculpture; what really counts is what you see there!

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