Leviathan The Leviathan is often an embodiment of chaos that threatens to eat the damned after life. Within us exists a struggle between who we want to be and who we believe we are at our core. This sculpture is based on a friend who married into a different culture. While at first it seemed foreign to him, time allowed him to embrace that culture and feel a part of it. So much so that he no longer sees himself as an outsider. What if the inner demon is not a demon at all, but a call to action to be more than we are? What if the demon, is just fear of change and doing things that are challenging?
After the Fall This sculpture is based on a friend and his attitude toward life after incredible hardship. A parallel is drawn to the story of Icarus and what could have been possible after his tragic fall. What if there was more to the story. We all have people in our lives who inspire us. Most likely it is those who have struggled, those who have overcome adversity. Those with an unconquerable spirit.
Refinement The sculpting process is so like life in that you start from a chunk of cold clay, with really no form, but a lot of unknown potential. Sometimes you are adding pieces and sometimes you are taking away. Added energy through heat and pressure causes changes. Little by little an idea becomes a form. A form exudes an emotion, An emotion tells a story that makes a connection. Refinement contrast extreme beauty with raw formlessness. It starts from a cocoon. Over time nothing becomes something. Most of the time my sculptures are complete disasters for half of the process. I think we see ourselves are that way. Fortunately there is no end to our development. What we don't like we can change. What we want be, we can become. It's our choice.
Life Cycles When an insect makes a huge transition in its development it transforms into something unrecognizable. What if that is true of us? What if it is those changes that propel us into the next phase of our life? Our senses become more aware, our knowledge provides enlightenment, our suffering brings compassion. It's all part of the process. Ultimately the wings we develop can take us to unbelievable places.
Ubuntu "I am because we are" A person is a person. through other persons. We are pieces of everyone we know and love. I could not do anything without learning it from another human. Walking, speaking, thinking. Our completeness or incompleteness is a direct correlation to who is, or is not, in our life. We belong to a delicate network. An ever-changing network depending on the people in our lives at this moment.
Metamorphosis Have you ever known someone, lost track of them, and then reconnected, realizing that they are so much more than what you remember? For whatever reason we naturally seem to want to categorize each other. Place people into a box that defines them so it makes sense to us. We are not caterpillars that turn into butterflies. Our potential for change is endless. This change often comes through difficulty, pain, and suffering. Embrace it and realize its purpose.
Phoenix This is collaborative piece whose idea was born from a friend who was able to escape an abusive relationship. We can get into situations where we feel like there is no way out. We are trapped and we will die in that place before we can escape it. However, there is always hope, and sometimes we can only appreciate how impossible the situation was, having gone through it and seeing it from the other side. The phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor.
Ephemeral Work in progress. The idea behind this one is to show a beautiful figure that is being decayed by wind or sand or whatever from one side. Problems are just momentary. Stay focused on what matters. Spend your time on relationships. That is what persists.
Mudita The idea that when others have success it is our success too. When humanity is happy we are happy. A sense of concern for others well-being. We have all had someone who has gone before us to smooth the road, to make our load lighter. Most of the time without us even knowing. Mudita celebrates our ability to lift one another and to find success together. Who can you be a light to?
Unmasked How we see ourselves versus how we perceive that others see us is one of the most interesting dilemmas to our development. Putting on masks, taking off masks. Trying to be true to ourselves, at the same time taking on new roles and changing and becoming more than we were. What are the lies that we tell ourselves in those quiet moments of reflection.
Rachamim Hebrew word for compassion. root comes for rechem meaning womb. It's from our mothers nurturing that we learn compassion. In many ways it's the expanding of this maternal instinct that was pivotal to the survival of our species. This mother and child are at the core of our humanity. Life is not a given. The word compassion literally means suffering with. When we show compassion we are showing a willingness to suffer with others who suffer.
In the Moment This piece is intended to be a water fountain when finished. Its meaning to the viewer is to remind us of the solace of being present and intentional in our lives. We can work hard, play hard, live a full life, but we do need to take time to disconnect and quietly focus. Those are the moments when we will find clarity.
