medium-sized reconstructions (2016-2015)
These sculptures are outgrowths of my Renovated Flightless Devices series and play off the forms and function of tools, toys, boats, and, perhaps, military equipment. The works are somewhat vessel-oriented and have layers of drawing and painting that contribute to the building of a vague "history". The objects take a winding path to completion, evolving from continuously redrawn sketches and traveling through many transformations before being cut apart, reassembled, and reworked. Through this method of construction and reconstruction, I am able to intuitively build and then, at a later time, make necessary changes. Many of the recently completed things pictured here evolved for nearly a decade.
Curious inspection and patient observation reveal previously unseen drawings and room-like interiors, many with small chairs and ladders “left over” from previous inhabitants. These things have handles, openings, drawn symbols, and moveable parts, but like the mystery of a ritual object from a broken-down culture, the physical or metaphorical functions are left to the imagination. In an increasingly commercialized, displaced society, I’m attempting to build slow, somewhat clumsy, objects that reveal a layered history.