| These panels are part of an ongoing exploration of mine started in 2001 of the optical properties of abraded metal. I have been doing metalwork for over twenty years and along the way recognized that some tools leave a surface that seems to recede from the viewer, some simply flatten or create no dimensionality, and some seem to lift off the surface into the foreground. By combining these on a surface I can create holographic effects of depth and space with a two-dimensional object. These panels of stainless steel are ultimately the purest expression of this vision—they are not about form or utility, fasteners or patinas, or any of the other issues which inform most of the output from my studio. They are fundamentally objects to create a feeling in the viewer.
The art on the wall is not the piece of metal but that sense one has that some piece of the pattern you see is in front of another. The art is the way your eyes read the space created by the light reflecting off the surface. These panels have effects that are dramatic and immediately apparent and another level of perception that is only apparent with prolonged study. Letting one’s eyes relax and genuinely staring will yield bits of reflected light that curve away and behind other objects, swirls and shimmering lines that lift into the space in front of the surface. Aside from the dimensionality, these pieces function like a diffraction grating—if one looks closely all hues of the spectrum can be seen on the surface.
I create these pieces with about a dozen different tools in my studio. I wear a respirator, safety glasses, and headphones with music blaring. They are inextricably tied to the music and the isolation created by the protective gear. In my website are images of me at work as well as photos of a number of other panels ranging in size from 16” by 16” to 5’ by 10’. Commissions are accepted.
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE WALL SCULPTURE IMAGES
|
