The Builder, 2/3
Bronze on Wood
18 x 18 x 8
The Builder is the first in a 3-part series that will debut at Figure Ground Gallery in December 2023. Each figure is an archetype representing an aspect of the American ethos. The first in the series, The Builder is a theme repeated throughout this body of work.
The subject is a crouching figure executed in bronze representing the drive to create. The subject depicted is using the “clay” dug from the plinth that she rests on to sculpt a form that suggests a structure or shelter. Though her posture is reminiscent of an unaffected child playing in a sandbox, her glance directed over her shoulder hints at an undercurrent of anxiety.
Modeled in clay during the pandemic, images of the progress from the first days of clay modeling are visible on Instagram. I completed the first casting in bronze in 2021 at The Crucible in Oakland, CA. This current casting 2/3 was cast in 2023.
1/3 is in the collection of Mrs. Marilyn Smith
2/3 Available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze on wood
22 x 8 x 8.5 inches
2023
Resting Equilibrium is a freestanding high relief sculpture depicting a female allegorical figure who’s fallen into a slumber, allowing her scales to fall to the ground, while an opportunist grasps at the items that have rolled off of the scales. the last in The Builder Series , this piece completes the narrative and body of work shown in The Americans at Figure | Ground Gallery.
Artists Proof
Bronze on Wood
18 x 18 x 20
2023
Reverie and Abundance, the 2nd major piece in The Builder Series depicts an allegorical figure in semi reclined, in the act of leaning back to toss a piece of food into the mouth while grasping an overflowing basket of goods. Items in the basket spill out onto the plinth as the figure revels in the act of consuming.
The piece is executed in bronze with a semi-opaque white patina that reveals warm rust colors and cool greens underneath. It’s currently debuting at Figure | Ground Gallery in Seattle, WA for the month of December.
Artists’ Proof
Bronze on Wood
11 x 5 x 7 inches
2022
The Builder Portrait Vignette, is cast from the mold of The Builder, a fragment of a larger sculpture that takes on its own meaning. I work most often from imagination when creating allegorical figures; and so the features and likeness describe aspects of my aesthetic. Though modeled in the round, the features of The Builders’ face are modeled minimally, almost in bas-relief in the case of the eyes and mouth. Her face wears a subtle expression that reveals her subversive nature in the context of the larger piece.
We, as humans, read into faces frequently: the shapes and the proportions of the features inspire strong feelings in us that can shape relationships. The vignette format of this piece allows the viewer to focus on the face exclusively, to interpret for themselves what this combination of features might mean to them.
Edition Number 3/3 Available through Figure | Ground Gallery
In the collections of Amy and Jim Philp, and Sharon Stocking
Bronze on Wood
11 x 9 x 6
2023
This one-of-a-kind piece is a vignette taken from the mold of The Builder and cannot be reproduced exactly. I began with a casting of the hands of The Builder, and completed the piece by hand in wax, before initiating the bronze casting process. It highlights the action of The Builder, who uses the material of the plinth below to build a structure, symbolizing our creative instinct to build and improve physical structures, institutions, relationships and systems.
The mass of the hands and the material beneath naturally create a pleasing arc that resembles a bridge spanning the wooden base. The tapered sides of the oval wooden base lead our eye up to the bronze elegantly. The piece is finished with a semi-opaque white patina over subtle warm and cool colors that show through in many areas.
edition number 1/1
Available through Figure|Ground Gallery
Bronze on Wood
14 x 12 x 7 inches
2023
This one-of-a-kind bronze composition draws on the calming pleasure of repetition, and the excitement generated by slight variations in that rhythm. The head of The Builder is composed in triplicate, with the same features and shapes repeated, but in three different orientations. The three heads hover above an oval base that tapers above, to lead our eye upward and complete the triangular composition.
Edition number 1/1
Available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze
31 x 12 x 12 inches
2023
The Bashful Torso is a freestanding bronze figure, including knee to lower face. The core of the body is rich in expression, the torso a valuable tool for expression to sculptors throughout the ages. The practice of creating a torso intentionally (as opposed to a full figure that has been damaged through war, natural disaster, and time) came about relatively recently (late 19thc).
Often the language of the body communicates things that the individual won’t express verbally or through facial expression.
edition number 1/1
Available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze on wood
9 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches
2023
The Gestural Hand is a 3/4 life-size modeled hand with a powerful gesture. The piece wears a natural bronze finish on a tapered cylindrical wooden base. The scale is a great fit for a desktop or display shelf sculptural element.
edition number 1/1
Available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze on wood
26 x 10 x 5.5 inches
2023
Distant Storm, Tall Grasses is a free-standing relief that ranges from bas relief in the background to high relief and fully modeled form in the foreground. The work depicts a person encountering a new entity in a clearing in the garden, inspired by the moment that COVID-19 entered our lives and we began to grapple with how it would change us and our lives, relationships often in permanent ways.
edition number 1/3 in the collection of Dr. Sharon Stocking
2/3 available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze on wood
11 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches
2023
Though I was Certain I’d Been This Way Before … is a small-scale free-standing relief sculpture depicting a woman confronting nature in a forest environment. The figure is described in high relief in the left edge of the composition, peering into a dark wood. The picture plane is curved to emphasize a feeling of depth and mystery in the backdrop. Piercings in the backdrop allow light to filter through the trees as they might in a thick forest. The figure is minimized as the trees tower over her proportionally, imparting a sese of awe as she gazes into the mysterious space.
Available with 3 different patinas (light, medium, dark green). This piece works well in a shelf or small niche, or on its own pedestal.
Edition number 1/3 in the collection of Dr. Sharon Stocking
Edition numbers 2/3, 3/3, and Artists’ Proof available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Wood on steel and wood base
18 x 10 x 10 inches
2023
An intentional sculptural fragment, carved in mahogany, mounted on a steel and wooden base. The piece is inspired by social pressures we might experience to feel a prescribed way. The smile is isolated and loses meaning…it can take on a sinister, sarcastic, false or other meaning in the absence of context.
The original piece was hand modeled in ceramic clay, then scanned and carved with CNC lathe. It has been hand finished and mounted on a steel base.
Artists’ Proof available through Figure | Ground Gallery
Bronze
3 x 3 x .25 inches
Edition of 23 bronze medallions cast in 2023. This 3” round medallion is a portable, pocket size sculpture. It has a substantial feeling and comes with a wooden stand to allow it to be displayed on a desktop or bookshelf. Medallic sculpture is a great option for those who appreciate the art of speaking in form but have limited space to display sculptures. It depicts the character of The Builder, a construct of my imagination, surrounded by beams of light which may indicate the rising or setting sun. Signed on the obverse (back side), the piece is finished with a warm, copper-colored patina.
Edition of 23 castings available through Figure | Ground Gallery
