Mary, 1994
When I built the stained glass sculpture Mary, I was excited by the possibilities of rendering figures "in the round," using only faceted flat planes. I welded her frame piece by piece, with a lot of trial and error. It worked, but it was too difficult. I knew that technology would eventually make this process more efficient.
Tatanga, 2017
While I was learning how to fulfill order of artwork for Chipotle Mexican Grill, I became quite adept at making drawings on computer programs for CNC waterjets and lasers to cut out complicated shapes efficiently.
When I went to Italy, I visited the home and studio museum of Leonardo da Vinci. It was there, in Vinci, that I saw his drawings of elaborate geometric shapes unfolded into flat patterns. I decided I could figure out how to unfold and cut out patterns far more complicated than symmetrical geometry.
More Figures
I've long had a desire to build life-sized figurative sculpture out of stacked or bundled rocks. In order to do so, my design of the figures has to be dense. No arms extending, no tiny ankles to balance on. Gravity has to be respected.
In order to build them, I first sculpt them in clay, full-size, and then construct elaborate molds around them. Using these molds, I am able to build several versions of each posture using different materials and assembly techniques.