“Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos. That is the way we all see ...each other in life. Vanity, fear, desire, competition-- all such distortions within our own egos-- condition our vision of those in relation to us. Add to those distortions to our own egos the corresponding distortions in the egos of others, and you see how cloudy the glass must become through which we look at each other. That's how it is in all living relationships except when there is that rare case of two people who love intensely enough to burn through all those layers of opacity and see each other's naked hearts.”
― Tennessee Williams
Transparent Barriers: Phobias
We live in various states of fear. Often it is these fears that motivate us, propel us forward. But more often, it is fear that paralyzes us, and becomes the invisible barrier to our own evolution and our ability to connect with, and understand those, around us. With each painful human experience, that transparent shield thickens and becomes more difficult to shatter, to break through.
This series is an exploration of the profound effect our fears can have on our lives. These fears are most potently experienced in our most intimate relationships, but our intimate relationships are but a microcosm of our relationship to the greater world, where these same fears divide us and retard our evolution as a civilization, as a species. These barriers, these fears, stand between one nation and another, one leader and another, one neighbor and another, one spouse and another... at the core of each and every decision we make and each action we take.
Transparent Barriers: (Perception)My latest work is an exploration of the barriers, real or imagined, that constrain us. This state of being trapped or ‘boxed in’, either by external or internal forces is universal. Whether constrained by the mores of culture, laws of governments, perceptions of race or gender, or the limitations and fears within our own psyches, my fascination lies with our ability to understand our entrapment and the varying responses we have to this state. I choose to encase ceramic figures in cubes and boxes because of our paradoxical understanding of this symbol. We live, work, worship and move in boxes, we feel sheltered and protected within their confines, but with a simple shift in perspective we can as easily then feel oppressed by our homes and families, jobs and possessions, religion,government and culture. The ceramic figure is left rough and organic,primal and is juxtaposed against the plastic, machined constraint posing an observation of whether the barriers and constraints that entrap us are a natural, organic state or the plastic inorganic construct of man - unnatural, contrived. Edges and Uncertain Legacy: My work is an exploration of the relationship of mankind to the edge upon which we exist, that edge between life and death, one reality and another, one paradigm shifting unexpectedly. It is that moment when perceived foundations crack, break, twist and fall, leaving us to struggle, balance or resign ourselves to the inevitable result. It is that moment on the edge with which I am intrigued.
Sections
“Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos. That is the way we all see ...each other in life. Vanity, fear, desire, competition-- all such distortions within our own egos-- condition our vision of those in relation to us. Add to those distortions to our own egos the corresponding distortions in the egos of others, and you see how cloudy the glass must become through which we look at each other. That's how it is in all living relationships except when there is that rare case of two people who love intensely enough to burn through all those layers of opacity and see each other's naked hearts.”
― Tennessee Williams
Transparent Barriers: Phobias
We live in various states of fear. Often it is these fears that motivate us, propel us forward. But more often, it is fear that paralyzes us, and becomes the invisible barrier to our own evolution and our ability to connect with, and understand those, around us. With each painful human experience, that transparent shield thickens and becomes more difficult to shatter, to break through.
This series is an exploration of the profound effect our fears can have on our lives. These fears are most potently experienced in our most intimate relationships, but our intimate relationships are but a microcosm of our relationship to the greater world, where these same fears divide us and retard our evolution as a civilization, as a species. These barriers, these fears, stand between one nation and another, one leader and another, one neighbor and another, one spouse and another... at the core of each and every decision we make and each action we take.
Transparent Barriers: (Perception)My latest work is an exploration of the barriers, real or imagined, that constrain us. This state of being trapped or ‘boxed in’, either by external or internal forces is universal. Whether constrained by the mores of culture, laws of governments, perceptions of race or gender, or the limitations and fears within our own psyches, my fascination lies with our ability to understand our entrapment and the varying responses we have to this state. I choose to encase ceramic figures in cubes and boxes because of our paradoxical understanding of this symbol. We live, work, worship and move in boxes, we feel sheltered and protected within their confines, but with a simple shift in perspective we can as easily then feel oppressed by our homes and families, jobs and possessions, religion,government and culture. The ceramic figure is left rough and organic,primal and is juxtaposed against the plastic, machined constraint posing an observation of whether the barriers and constraints that entrap us are a natural, organic state or the plastic inorganic construct of man - unnatural, contrived. Edges and Uncertain Legacy: My work is an exploration of the relationship of mankind to the edge upon which we exist, that edge between life and death, one reality and another, one paradigm shifting unexpectedly. It is that moment when perceived foundations crack, break, twist and fall, leaving us to struggle, balance or resign ourselves to the inevitable result. It is that moment on the edge with which I am intrigued.
Sections