METAL SCULPTURE ARTIST, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Hollows

Hollow: a shade that has been stripped of its mortal memories, humanity or emotional capacity, leaving behind an empty, wandering shell.

Hidden in the roots, branches, bark and burls of trees, both living and deceased, are the suggestions of faces, figures and narratives both frightening and fragile.

The sculptures in this series are not entirely invented. They are discovered, unearthed, excavated remains. Death masks of forgotten myths. They are presented as if in their final moments, frozen in the agony of death, crushed and disfigured from the forces of earth, wind, water, time and the more devastating force of humanity. They are relics of a time when human or pre human thought was was no more than survival instinct, a constant search for food, shelter and safety. The first recognition of images such as these, hidden in the living environment, strange creatures staring out with hollow eyes, looking at times almost human, must have been startling. Were they benign or malevolent? Living beings or spirits? Were they to be feared or revered? Brought forward in time they served as cautionary tales, warning of the dangers inherent in the world. These warnings, heeded for a time, have now lost much of their relevance in a changed world. 

The series explores the intersection of ecology, archaeology and myth. The relics are situated in the natural world prior to the beginning of folklore and at the origin of imagination itself.