Sculpture comes very natural for me. My father is a master brick mason and my mother, a now retired Major in the Utah National Gaurd. I learned work ethic, aesthetic and efficiency from these great teachers. I am a direct mixture of them and can see them in nearly every piece I create. My sculpture follows my drawing rather closely in the fact that it is usually the second step in my creative process. A 3-dimensional rendition of any idea allows me to see the art in a literal new light. Studying light and darkness, I can usually depict my ideas in great detail. My sculptures tend to go through an evolutionary cycle. I don't believe that they must stay what they are for their whole existence. That seems unnatural. Instead, I let my ideas push and pull my sculptures to fit their atmosphere.
The Evolution of Scarlet:
Scarlet began as a wooden waterfall. Capturing the essence of life, I began to learn how to carve wood into water.
Stress and Tension
Scarlet then took then became a multi-cell organism as I learned how to use stress and tension techniques in my installation sculptures. The wooden-cube armatures represent the building blocks of life (proteins). The wood-carved bones are strung together with yarn to show how delicate the human evolutionary process was and is. The bones are striving to work together with proteins to form muscles, and in turn, kinetic movement. And move it did...
The Ontological Humanity Archangel
As Scarlet took a more anatomically correct form, she became the Ontological Humanity Archangel. Stemming from St. Anselm's argument for the existence of God, philosophic theology began to influence my creative process greatly. As i learned more about the age old question of: The Existence of God, I saw metaphorical analogies between my creation and "God's" creative process. The Ontological hadn't learned to walk yet, but instead, hung from locations across the United States Colleges and Universities on the Human Rights Awareness Tour. Spreading Awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I used Scarlet as a metaphor for the strengthening of the Human Rights Movement. As more awareness was spread, more muscles (braided yarn) was added to her by college students across the United States. As Scarlet became stronger, the Human Rights Movement strengthened. Eventually Scarlet was shown on display at the United Nations Plaza in New York, New York for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Scarlet:
The Ontological Archangel descended from heaven and Scarlet was born at Desert Rocks Music Festival in 2010. She took her first steps and soon she was dancing. She has been across America as Scarlet going to Music Festivals and Art Festivals bringing people together to dance and connect with one another. She has a certain knack for attracting children. I think it is because she is herself a child. They always seem to know what to do to make her move, where adults tend to look at her with question and even horror at times. Descriptions such as evil and scary have been addressed to her which actually have a reflective position rather than a labeling position as far as I can tell.
