Web of Life
The uncanny character traits are imparted to these sculptures by none other than Mother Nature. By the time I get to work, it’s half done.
I use the words, “larger than life fantasy figures,” when introducing these sculptures, but I hope they evoke a memory of something tangible and invaluable having to do with our body’s native resonance.. The plant world is tuned to geologic time. When we interact with them, plants sooth us, root us, reintroduce us to that earth pace. Plants communicate with the deepest roots of the evolutionary onion that is our brain.
Setting aside philosophy for a moment, we wish to acknowledge all public art is political. We wish to make clear these sculptures are an invitation to fellow makers to clean up their act. Much of what we’re seen in 3D printed things, perpetuates the plastic waste stream. That’s just one of a zillion examples. I’m not setting myself up to judge, but my personal return to nature has led me to working with environmentally benign ingredients. We’ve surrendered a lot of what was required of our ancestors for them to survive. We need to reclaim as much as we can, while we can and cultivate awareness of that part of us which is inextricably pledged to this earth from beginning to end.
Though the sculptures are fantastical, they’re conceived to appeal to an innate capacity, embedded in to our nervous systems, to align with nature and move in accord. Most of our evolutionary development took place on that foundation. For the past several generations we have been adapting at a rapid rate in an increasingly technological direction. For the first time ever, our attention has been taken off our essential connection.
In repurposing indigenous shrubs as fine art, the show intends to evoke an impression of the nature spirit embodying something resembling ourselves and reaching out to us. Step through the magic mirror and Invent a bit of story and character to match your impression of each sculpture. They have come to make contact. Meet them halfway. .