The subject of fire and form

I have chosen to work with clay and metal to fulfill a dream of warmth, grace, and simplicity which speaks to primary human emotions and reinforces that which we have in common with one another. Paradoxically, I have been conditioned by a highly specialized and sophisticated environment to search for the simple stuff of what it is to be human. I search for our fundamental causes, for the prime movers which activate our behavior. I believe that beneath the layers of socialization we are motivated by a pre-socialized core of needs and emotions. It is as if we house a primitive being who, above all, wants to be expressed. My work is a visual metaphor for that which I believe is in the soul of that primitive being, for that which I believe is at the core of human nature. The elements of contemporary society which have most influenced the subject matter of my work are the diminishing sense of community, spiritual isolation, and the de-emphasization of human sensitivities. This social climate has effected a desire, a need, to contemplate the common denominators in life's expression. I work to give visual form to a human sensibility which will reawaken a sense of fellowship. My intention is to reaffirm my place on the planet earth as a part of a natural system as well as to strengthen my fundamental relationship with the community of mankind. This influences my choice of materials and processes, my work's reference to the forms and surfaces in nature, and its subject matter. (See more in text.)