About the Artworks
'Snow Buddha'
Since 1997, I have created sculptures - a series of “big heads.” The heads pay homage to modernist sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, T’ang dynasty and later Buddhist sculptures from China, Olmec figures from Central Mexico, and the pictographic languages of China and other locales. They deal with the concept of what it means to know something, or to believe that you know something. These themes are carried out in earthenware wall hangings as well. The wall hangings harken back to vessels I made in the early 1970s. The earthenware forms are fired two or more times to cone 04 using slips, underglazes, and clear as well as opaque textured glazes.
Most of the pieces involve quotations from philosophy and literature. Prominent sources for this series are the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the 20th century Austrian philosopher. The sculptures are not derived from quotations, but they grow around them. The most recent vessels involve questions that start with “W,” inquiries like “What,” “Where,” “When, “ Why,” or “Who.” The sculptures also reflect aspects of working with materials that I have learned and grown fond of since I was 13 or 14 years old as well as ideas that I developed about objects, philosophy, language and imagery. In all of the works, significant influences also include linguistic and pragmatic philosophy; Neolithic and early classical Chinese and Japanese pottery, sculpture, and calligraphy; the pottery of the southwest American Indians; the wood carving of the Northwest Indians; and the stone carving of the Mayans. They reflect my appreciation of many contemporary artists working in clay and other materials as well. In college, I studied with abstract expressionists and minimalists, political and linguistic philosophers. In graduate school, I studied with imagistic artists. I believe I learned from all of them as well as the artists I have known since.
Most of the pieces involve quotations from philosophy and literature. Prominent sources for this series are the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the 20th century Austrian philosopher. The sculptures are not derived from quotations, but they grow around them. The most recent vessels involve questions that start with “W,” inquiries like “What,” “Where,” “When, “ Why,” or “Who.” The sculptures also reflect aspects of working with materials that I have learned and grown fond of since I was 13 or 14 years old as well as ideas that I developed about objects, philosophy, language and imagery. In all of the works, significant influences also include linguistic and pragmatic philosophy; Neolithic and early classical Chinese and Japanese pottery, sculpture, and calligraphy; the pottery of the southwest American Indians; the wood carving of the Northwest Indians; and the stone carving of the Mayans. They reflect my appreciation of many contemporary artists working in clay and other materials as well. In college, I studied with abstract expressionists and minimalists, political and linguistic philosophers. In graduate school, I studied with imagistic artists. I believe I learned from all of them as well as the artists I have known since.
'Snail'
'Snail'
My sculptures are highly autobiographical. This doesn’t mean they are about events in my life, but they do reflect thoughts I have had and influences I have experienced. I have had the good fortune to grow up in the Northwest United States and to live and work for much of my life on the West Coast and now Texas. I have been able to visit sites in China and Mexico where some of the ancient pottery and carved forms were made which have influenced my work and thought. Artists’ concepts and palettes are tremendously influenced by their visual environment and that is certainly true for me.
Tercera Gallery, 1999