Artist Statement
My inspiration is the forms and patterns in nature and how they reveal invisible energies. These mutable and complex organic patterns are set within the context of our human built structures as a metaphor for our own complicated and tenuous relationship to the vast and unknowable forces of the universe. My recent installations translate images from nature into a visual language that is a bridge between an urban setting, our natural environment and the human spirit.
Different materials reflect and project light, color and shadow so that the works change throughout the day and as people move through them or drive by them. My public artworks are different in the day and nighttime. Reflective materials that move in the wind animate the work in the daytime while programmable LED lighting expands the presence of the artwork beyond the physical boundaries of the materials. In “Shadow Play” in Tempe, AZ, iconic mesquite tree “ghosts” are etched in glass and catch the sun in the day time and shift color at night with LED lights. On the glass walled pedestrian bridge in New Rochelle, “Tidal Song” is seen both from within and below and changes with the angle of the sun and sweeping interactive lighting programs at night. “Mindshadows” in Toronto made of perforated aluminum dissolves and changes density according to the light and computer controlled lighting programs at night. “Halo” in Rigaud Quebec is made from dichroic glass that responds to the wind creating ever changing configurations while the glass material itself magically responds to ambient light. In Denver, “Cloudbreak” uses light shining through over 12,000 glass tubes to suggest the form, color and movement of clouds never the same.
My many public art projects have given me the experience to get projects done on time and within budget and it is a great pleasure to work with the other design professionals, the client and the public. For over 25 years I have collaborated with governmental agencies, project architects, and other project partners in the successful design, execution and installation of public artworks. Virtually all of my over forty public art commissions are in urban settings where I was required to take into account the constraints of safety, maintenance, ADA compliance and durability under often extreme weather conditions.