Artist Statement, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009 at 3:52PM
My studio practice is extremely varied, encompassing kinetic sculpture, site specific interventions, emerging digital technologies and a traditional object based approach to sculpture. A common uniting theme in my work is an examination of sculpture as a catalyst for critical engagement in our physical world. Whether through craftsmanship or the creation of spectacle, my goal is to provoke the viewer to question the constructed world they inhabit. The end goal of my studio practice is to draw the viewer’s attention to the assumptions we make about the reality we perceive.
I approach my research in the belief that the idea is essential to the object; material choices are secondary and are made in terms of the most successful way to express the concept. Sculpture is a language, and by mastering the applicable fabrication processes, I believe artists are capable of expanding their vocabulary, allowing for a greater articulation of the most complex ideas.
My most current body of work includes “...he was turned to steel…” (2006), which consists of a larger than life version of the 1960s comic book hero the Invincible Iron Man. This sculpture monumentalizes the fictional act of a fictional character, using the story of the comic book character The Invincible Iron Man as a contemporary interpretation of a heroic narrative. This sculpture examines the historical role of monumental sculpture as a tool for reinforcing social values and shared cultural myths. In many ways it equates the ancient narratives of past cultures to the current shared social narratives produced by the entertainment industry. A similar piece titled Chrome Ghost (2007) is based on our culturally accepted representation of a ghost: a human form covered in a bed sheet. I have chosen this image due its absurd ability to represent our curiosity and fear around the issue of an afterlife. Both of these recent works take their form from cultural symbolism that is arguably found in lowbrow, or pop culture; in this way my studio practice is engaged in investigating the division between high art and popular culture. I recognize that this issue has been extensively examined by previous artists. However, my approach is not of an artist critiquing our value systems, but as an artist who has difficulty drawing the cultural distinctions between the value of a Rodin sculpture and a rare comic book.
As a sculptor, I am interested in craftsmanship, specifically the act of creating an object that is so finely crafted that the material handling becomes a non-issue. We live in a culture were mass-produced objects populate our lives. Economics has dictated that all things should be the same, as standardization makes things easier to sell. My research is engaged in creating objects that require extensive labor and attention to the smallest detail; I attempt to invest my objects with a hyper-craftsmanship that operates in contrast to the world of mass-produced consumer goods. I attempt this in the belief that in a world populated by identical objects, choosing to build an object that does not confirm to standardization or commodification, draws attention to the flaws in our commercialization of all objects. Simply stated, I believe that the only act that holds the potential of being truly revolutionary is the act of building.
