I like to think as a Ceramic sculptor that I deal with three-dimensional space or the void in much the same way a composer of music deals with silence or the absence of sound. In my mind’s eye I play with form. I turn it around and upside down. I reorient form in three dimensional space. The form may even be turning inside out. As an idea it sometimes floats in space, losing its sense of gravity. For me the plastic nature of clay has been a perfect match for the mind as it conjures form largely from an inner vision.
In a number of ways I am attracted to the form of the auger. The auger remains in my mind as metaphor of form. In our daily life we know the auger as a large, dynamic iron tool which moves clay and digs into the earth. As a sculptural form the auger is shaped of clay or earth. It no longer functions, as an earthmover but is the very earth itself.
I enjoy the visual push and pull, into and out of the central axis of the auger form. My first hollow clay augers became “Earth Augers”. They began to remind me of earth shapes left behind the plow in the rolling farmlands. My larger “Twisted Earthscapes” followed “Earth Augers”. Abstractly painting the surface of these twisting forms became part of the challenge. I found that at times color painted on these surfaces enforces what the eye sees. But then, at other times, it could also camouflage the form, hiding the presence of inherent dynamic energy. The twist of the auger form is a gesture in space, which we experience both visually and tactilely, intellectually and physically. I would like the viewer to experience the torque of the fired clay form in his or her own body.
我喜欢像一名陶艺雕塑家那样去思考，就像一个作曲家在他的曲子里利用空白一样来处理三维空间或虚无。在我的想象中，我把玩各种形状，我将我的作品翻过来，让它底部朝上，重新置于三维空间之中。有时候我甚至把里面反到外面来，让它在我的思维里处于一种失重的状态而漂浮起来。对于我来说，当巨大的造型和内在的创意结合在一起的时候，陶土的可塑性便于意念完美地结合在一起了。
我在诸多方面都对旋转的形状很着迷。在我的印象中旋转是形状的象征。在我们的日常生活中，旋转给我们的印象只是一种用来挖土的工具。作为一种雕塑的方法，旋转是用黏土构成的不再是推土机，而成了泥土本身。
我很喜欢这种以旋转为中轴的视觉上的推进拉出。我的第一部中空的作品就叫做《大地旋转》，它们使我注意到犁过的农场土地的形状。在此之后，一部更大的作品《扭曲的地貌》步〈大地旋涡〉后尘而来。当然，以抽象的方式扭曲的表面上绘画是很具有挑战性的。我发现，很多时候，涂在这种表面上的颜色更加强调了眼睛上的颜色步是很利于线条的表现，把作品本身所具有的动感掩盖了。旋转的扭曲是一种我们在视觉上，触觉上，精神上，肉体上都能够体验到的。我希望观众能够从我的作品中亲身体验到这种扭转的力量。 |
