After receiving a B.A. in art education at Western Michigan University, I moved to San Francisco in 1969 to attend the San Francisco Art Institute where I received an M.F.A. in 1972. In graduate school, I was an exchange student in Japan, and have since traveled to Europe, Greece, and Egypt. Being particularly interested in tools and machinery both ancient and modern, I have made a point of going to anthropological, scientific and maritime museums as well as visiting the industrial/maritime areas wherever I travel. After years of photographing ships here and abroad, I now have an extensive collection.
My early work was figurative and cast in bronze. In 1971, I moved to a studio on the San Francisco waterfront, which greatly influenced the development of my work. The tools used in the maritime industry in proximity to the studio were a great source of inspiration. I have tried to capture the ruggedness forms and textures of these objects. Moving from a literal to a more abstract interpretation, I now work mostly with wood, welded metal and occasionally use canvas, rope, rubber and cement. Often the raw materials used are simply discarded objects I find. However, by welding and woodworking, the material is transformed into an entirely new thing which looks as if it might have been found or been something useful in the past.
Some people also see an abstracted resemblance to the figure and sexual symbolism in my work. In reality, I do not work from drawings or a preconceived idea, but rather in a kind of dialogue with the materials. I never know what will turn out when I begin.
Photos and press release for this artist.