Artist Statement

“The problem with communication ... is the illusion that it has been accomplished.” - George Bernard Shaw

Every attempt at communication faces multiple obstacles. Successful communication occurs when meaning is conveyed between two overlapping worlds. One is the world outside our bodies – the so-called "real" world of objects, people, and events. The other is the world inside our heads – the subjective world of our own thoughts, feelings, and fantasies. The human experience necessitates a regular shifting between these worlds, and it is in this shift that communication becomes vulnerable. Both worlds present challenges that produce confusion as often as communication: the expression which one creates – speech, objects, or physical movements for example – to relate aspects of his interior landscape may be inadequate, the communicator unable to convey his inner world to the outer one. Those in the "real" world then bear the burden of interpreting this expression, further jeopardizing communication. The potential for this communicative endeavor to succeed or fail is limitless, and my work, which arises out of this potential, explores the vast complexities that threaten fluid communication.

Like many others, communication for me has rarely been a smooth, continuous act. More often than not, internal distractions interrupt my best efforts. Rather than focusing on the present moment, I’ve gone through much of life paying too much attention to the voices in my head. My intended meaning frequently becomes obtuse or misunderstood in conversation as a result of my inner dialogue dominating the forefront of my mind.

My work creates an awareness of the inner dialogue. Contrasting surfaces reference and reinforce failed attempts at communication between inner and outer dialogue/monologue. Glaze, paint, and patinas evoke rust, grime, disintegration, and disuse. The sculptures created allude to objects in disrepair and entropy. Surfaces are metaphors for an emotional state associated with the dualism of internal and external communication. Structurally they are strong, yet flawed and disjointed, much like communication.

Mark R. Leary stated in Curse of the Self, “Much of what happens in our inner world involves the activity of the self which is the internal “talking” in which an inner “voice” makes observations, asks questions and provides answers.”  We have all had the experience of talking to ourselves and “hearing” ourselves think. I talk to myself so often that these inner voices are rarely heard unless the questions are difficult or the answers distressing. In contemporary western society, successful communication relies on the individual’s ability to process the world in which we live in as well as be true to our inner voice.