Artist Statement         

My goal is to thoughtfully construct objects that have both a logic and peculiarity. They should be correctly assembled, but in their own alien language.

My sculptures are conceptual. They are statements of visual ideas. Ideas of personal style and construction. I wish to engage in a perversion of expectations and objects. To quote Chairman Mao, "Bian fei wei bao!" (Turn garbage into treasure!)

I am influenced by the Soviet Constructivists, Dziga Vertov's films and especially Kazimir Malevich's Suprematism. Philip Guston has also had an impact on my work which I hope is strangely evident.

Chinese and Japanese art also attract me. Chinese scholar's rocks are especially appealing. They are appreciated as natural objects, but are the result of careful shaping and mounting. A truly great rock does not resemble anything but itself; it becomes an object which cannot be understood except for it's eccentricities. This is what I try to cultivate in my own sculpture.
My method is to combine ordinary and fantastic elements. I am attracted to forms that possess both these traits. Nature alone is not sufficient. Imagination alone is not sufficient. Only in combination are they satisfying to me.

The shapes I have selected, for instance, a landscape/fungus/hotdog shape and a box shape, have been chosen not only as novel forms but also to establish a certain standard. The combinations are not random, but I hope they are appreciated for themselves, not for what they resemble. They are a catalog of carefully imagined original tastes. I am trying to create a vocabulary which follows rules but that speaks beyond logic.

Craftsmanship is a device to express that vocabulary clearly. I try to use no more or less of it than necessary. The level of craftsmanship in my sculptures only matches what I am trying to express.

I hope to make things that are funny. Playfulness is important to me. I want you to see the awkward innocence of my sculpture, but I hope it's offset by my darker intentions.

I want to invent humorous forms; to me, some shapes are just funnier than others.