CREATION DATE:
2010
click photos to enlarge
HOMETOWN:
Cape Girardeau, MO
STUDIO LOCATION:
Cape Girardeau, MO
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCULPTING?
Five years.
WHAT GOT YOU INTO THIS MEDIUM?
Coming out of my undergraduate program at Southeast Missouri State, I was introduced to a new sculpture professor who encouraged me to try something new with my BFA project. Up until then, I was sculpting mostly from wood - probably because I was comfortable with that material coming from a construction background.
WHERE DID THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS SELECTED PIECE DERIVE?
My religion is nature and I spent a lot of time that summer canoeing up and down the rivers but at the same time I was also going through some personal struggles concerning where I was going in life, or was I going anywhere?
TELL US ABOUT THE CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CRAFTING THIS PIECE.
The challenge was self-discovery. This particular piece has a very personal narrative attached to it.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE THIS PIECE?
Working on and off, a couple of months.
HOW DO YOU WANT THE SCULPTURE GARDEN AUDIENCE TO LOOK AT YOUR WORK?
As long as it makes people think, that's the point.
WHAT OTHER ARTISTS INSPIRE YOU?
One thing that does it for me is coming to installations at art programs like this one and being introduced to work that I may otherwise have never seen. I also draw from history. Mark DiSuvero and John Henry are definitely an inspiration to a young public artist like myself, and I enjoy the fact that they are still hands on with their work unlike a lot of artist that are out there today. That is something that definitely inspires me!
WHY DO YOU DO THE WORK YOU DO?
I'm looking for answers in life just like everyone else. These sculptures are my thought process.
WHERE DO YOU HAVE OTHER WORKS?
Oak Park Sculpture Walk, Oak Park, IL, SPACES Sculpture Trail Biennial, Huntsville, AL, Olathe Downtown Sculpture Exhibition, Olathe, KS, Wayne State College Sculpture Competition, Wayne, NE, Art in Motion, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO, Sculpture Walk 2011, Sioux Falls, SD, Public Art League, City of Champaign/Urbana, IL, Decatur Sculpture Walk, Decatur, IN
HOW DO YOU FINANCE THE WORK THAT YOU DO?
Unfortunately, sculpture doesn't pay all the bills, so I have a small construction business to help fund some of the larger sculptures and public art programs like this help fill in the blanks.
