Statement
I chose to work with both the human figure and the equine, using the figure as a literal expression of transformation, and the horses as symbols of mental and spiritual transformation. From this exploration, two bodies of work emerged. One is a series of freakish half-creature, half-pure-form sculpted figures in various states of transformation, and the second is a series of large, muscular charcoal drawings of ethereal horses emerging from pitch black background. I work two or three pieces simultaneously, bouncing between them, letting each work inform the other. Though the two series seem divergent, they were concurrent journeys towards what is now the heart of my artwork. My work is for those of us who still hope and dream like children, and for those who need to rediscover that ability.
Recently, I have completed a piece which is a synthesis of the formal, emotional and intellectual aspects of these two previous bodies of work. The next body of work will be based entirely on the equine. Since childhood, I have been enamored with horses; their personality, character and spirit. Their beauty entrances me, and the combination of their innocence and raw strength has a powerful hold upon my psyche. I love them deeply. I make horses in art for myself, and for all of us who remember what it is like to be a child entranced by shaggy ponies and old work horses, to see magic in every flick of an ear and swish of a tail. I now understand that the horses are, and always have been, the best medium for my vision.
The mantra behind this work is as follows: the clay must first be wedged, molded, and fired before its final purpose can be realized and understood. This mantra is both a methodology and a metaphor. The clay actually undergoes this process, and the practice of creating the drawings is similar. The canvas is stretched, and the ground is abraded and abused in order to draw the image out. This process is a metaphor for human existence in reality. We all have the potential to transcend this existence, but first we are shaped, pounded, modeled, abraded, scraped by a force outside of ourselves, and changed from base materials to something exalted and fully realized.
