Example Work

Bronze

 

Artist Statement

I believe John Berryman was wise when he advised poets to always try to write a poem they feel unable to write because they still lack the language. The pressure of relating inner and outer reality and giving it physical play, asking what is formative of art alongside what is formative of being human, is my obsession. Looking perhaps like some creature from prehistory banging on metal, I insist on seeking a "language" of form strong enough to make my sculptures rise above their own abstraction and corporality and, like music, speak to us directly from the soul's fire.

The sculptures I make are all autobiographical and deal with aspects of self, but not the personal self . Each work is distinct from the other, but each is used as a way of connecting to strong emotional experiences that seem suspended somewhere between dream and reality. In other words, what I personally see is the relating of inner and outer reality, and giving it physical, imaginative play using the unique properties of bronze to pull the task off. In a sense, sculpture making allows me access to parts of myself that would otherwise be left untouched.

The creative search is difficult and all-consuming. Yet, there are those moments when the process gives back with unmerited grace a fullness beyond every expectation. Alone in the studio, when it all goes well, I actually dance with joy.

Teaching Positions

1972-

Professor of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon

Education

1970-72

M.F.A. University of Notre Dame

1967-70

B.F.A. Indiana University

Recent Public Commissions

Bronze Great Blue Heron for Salem Civic Center Pond, Salem, Oregon. Funded by the City of Salem.

Suspended Bronze Celtic Cross for sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, Salem, Oregon.

Bronze Medallions expressing River themes for Salem Riverfront Park. The reliefs are installed along the river overlook in Salem, Oregon. Funded by the City of Salem.

Bronze Relief Memorial of Ray Atkeson (with camera), "Oregon's Photographer Laureate," located at Sparks Lake (near Bend). Commissioned by the Oregon Parks Foundation.

Wall Mural, Sesquicentennial Painting commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Willamette University. Funded by Willamette University and permanently installed in the Goudy Commons.

Suspended Brass Chapel Cross, designed for Willamette University's new Waller Chapel. Funded by Willamette University.

Bronze Sculpture, Mark O. Hatfield Library, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. Funded by the Collins Foundation.

George Atkinson Memorial, cast bronze, Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University.

Roy Keene Memorial, Sparks Center, Willamette University. Life size, cast bronze. Funded by the friends of Roy Keene.

John Lewis Memorial, Sparks Center, Willamette University. Carved teak wood. Over life size.

Lestle Sparks Memorial, Sparks Center, Willamette University. Life size, cast bronze.

Recent Exhibitions of Sculpture

2004

Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem OR, One-Person

Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham OR, Faculty Invitational

Lawrence Gallery, Portland OR, Invitational Group Exhibition

2003

Oregon state University, Corvallis OR, One-Person

Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland OR, Group Exhibition

2002

Salem Artist's Salon Exhibition, Roy John Gallery, Salem OR, Invitational

2001

Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, Oregon, Showcase Exhibition of Oregon Art Professors

Celebration of the Arts 2001, State Capitol, Salem, Oregon, Juried, First Place Award

Western Oregon State College, Monmouth, Oregon, Two-Person

2000

Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, Oregon, One-Person