Most of my work is derived from a merger of my aesthetic impulses and their translation through direct metal working techniques. This piece began as a response to a find in the scrap pile. Frequently I’ll come across a given form, a pre-manufactured widget of some sort, find it interesting, and off we go. Once that gets cleaned up, I’ll assess its potentials as an art object, then begin working with it. Slicing in, capping off, adding to and peeling back as needed. After a period of time, it’s “done,” and that’s the end of it. The title of this piece is derived from something I was reading at the time, which featured a discussion on the topic of Durkheim’s “Anomie,” being defined as: a social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of the norms and values that were previously common. As I tend to repurpose materials, depriving them of their intended use, notions of “Anomie” began to feel quite appropriate. In building the piece of satin finished stainless steel, it occurred to me that “Anomie” could in fact be in beauty, and it was a swift path to the title form there.
