I remember as a child helping my mother plant daffodils and marigolds in the springtime, then in the autumn we would cut back the leaves and collect the seeds. Because of this, I developed an appreciation for plants and soil and an understanding of growth and transformation. This closeness to growth and nature has left an impression on me and I draw on these formative memories in my work. Botanical forms are not only beautiful; they are intriguing. How things grow is exciting and mysterious; it is miraculous.
Plants are quiet, slow-moving metaphors of existence. I am captivated by the poignant analogies between plant life and humanity. The botanical world is teeming with exquisite and aesthetic examples of the relationship between form and function. Behind the thorns and untouchable leaves of plants such as thistles and prickly poppies is softness and nectar, symbolic of the most vulnerable part protected at the core. These botanical inspired metal sculptures are portraits reflecting the many layers that evolved to shelter our innermost depths of being.
Through the meditative and repetitive processes of hammering and forming, metal is transformed into shells, cocoons, leaves, and eggs. The Cocoons are a series of hanging vessels that once enclosed something mysterious and unknowable to all except that which was contained within. They are vestiges of an almost unseen metamorphosis. What emerged is all around and the cycle repeats itself.
I speak through metal. It is the medium that is the most natural extension of my hands and my thoughts. In my work I consider the material and develop forms to be intimately familiar yet mysterious. The process of shaping and hammering metal mimics growth and I become a catalyst enabling the creation of something new. Creating this illusion of growth, life, and decay in a medium as hard and inanimate as metal is a pursuit which reminds me that I’m alive.