Artist Statement

Assemblage is a love affair with the beauty of cast-off objects. Over time, on many beach walks and remodeling projects, I’ve amassed a substantial collection of things that stir my imagination. These relics have lived other lives, been lost or discarded or altered by nature. My job as an artist is to re-frame these objects, to bring them out of obscurity and give them a second life. 

​

Animal bones are a primary element in my sculptures. I gather road kill and birds in the back of my truck and bury them in the earth for many months. While I choose bones for their beauty of forms, colors, and textures, bones are remnants of a living being that died and has begun to feed its environment. Perhaps these bones, enshrined in sculpture, feed something within us: a resonance, a sense of loss, a longing for life.

​

As a culture, we typically avert our eyes from the emotional impact of death. Can we change our habit of ignoring the shadows, the mundane, what is commonly reviled? Maybe through new eyes awakened by beauty and loss, we will think twice about our wasteful acts, what we discard, and what we choose to consume.
 

I believe that every moment we notice and create beauty, we offer an antidote to the many ailments humans have brought to this world. Every small act of creation helps fuel the cultural energy necessary for healing ourselves and our home.

​

Thank you for visiting and sharing this experience.

​

BACKGROUND

My education as an artist began in New York,  apprenticed with a fine furniture builder. One of the benefits of my night job at TIME Magazine was free admission to major art museums. I spent hundreds of hours haunting the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art, actively absorbing modern era sculpture and paintings with a quiet, intense joy. Although I’ve received little formal art training, in a sense I learned directly from the work of Joseph Cornell, Isamu Naguchi, Louise Nevelson, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi, Juan Miro, Hepworth, Henri Moore, Salvadore Dali, Kurt Schwitters, and Marcel Duchamp.

Working as a craftsman for over 25 years, I've made high-end cabinetry, fine furniture, industrial models and prototypes, and currently work with lighting as an electrician. Many of these skills are integral to making found object assemblage art.

​

Upon moving to Bainbridge Island, WA  in 1990, many gifted local artists influenced my work and collaborated with me: notably Bob Lucas, Gary Groves, Brian Berman and Gayle Bard. I'm very grateful for their mentorship.