Artist Statment:

In my 52 years as a full time blacksmith, I have leaned into organic forms as the inspiration for my metalwork. The process of fire and impact can have a transformative effect on a seemingly rigid, unyielding medium like steel; thereby bringing it to life.

My extensive commission work has created a large collection of leftover design elements. From this extensive cache, emerge form studies that explore a myriad of organisms both real and imagined. This is the fun of research in my studio. I can create life forms that come from the extra components of flowers, trees, and other shapes that can work as a plausible composition. The pieces that comprise Anomaly were originally crafted for chandeliers, restaurant lighting, and liturgical forge work.

Upon visiting Bond Life Sciences Center, and marveling at the research images in the lab, I realized that my sculpture, Anomaly, could be viewed as a micro organism undergoing an unexpected phase of development. That was an “Aha!” moment for me, and I knew I had to pursue this opportunity.