- CV Detail -
EDUCATION
Growing up, I was inspired by art of the human figure. Father drew lifelike portraits. We had books about Renaissance sculptors and painters. Mother said copy the masters. In college, anatomy and figure studies anchored my sensibilities.
With few exceptions, my professors were postmodernists, disinterested in figurative art. One said I would never understand abstract expressionism viewing it through a classical lens, a nuanced argument at best.
I wanted traditional skills, so I moved from school to school for their figure drawing and model sculpting classes, while studying metallurgy and modern foundry technique. Desperate to narrow the gap between intuitive art making and structured manufacturing, I experimented with ceramic shell for precision investment casting.
Skipping conventional wax patterns, I immersed combustible assemblages in shell slurry and after burnout, cast them in bronze. Abbreviating the ancient process allowed an ambitious sculpture series on consumerism, nuclear proliferation, animal rights, and industrial warfare. Functioning as social commentary, the pieces are visually narrative, allegorical vignettes.
Direct cast assemblage led to another innovation. I developed a cold-process vacuum table for taking molds of found object compositions. Along with rapid plaster casting, I used the molds in lost wax bronze casting and clay slip casting for ceramics. Assimilating industrial design and manufacturing, the device and sculptures combined are conceptual art. Similar to my direct cast assemblages, they are visual narratives evoking a post-technological society.
Innovating at colleges from Northern Virginia to California's North Coast set the stage for decades of work in fine art and diverse applied arts. I'm revisiting earlier concepts with twenty-first century design and fabrication methods, interpreting sociotechnological conditions unimaginable in 1980.
SCHOOLS & INFLUENCES
Northern Virginia Community College, 1980-1981, Associate - Fine Art: Paul Di Pasquale, Faculty (figure drawing); Hank Harmon, Faculty (2D/3D design); Don Brown, Faculty (printmaking). Virginia Commonwealth University, 1981-1982, attended: Bill Hammersley, Faculty (wood sculpting, 3D design, furniture design); Phillip Pearlstein, Visiting Artist (figure drawing and painting). Towson University, 1984-1985, attended: Adjunct Faculty (figure drawing and modeling). California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, 1986-1987, attended: Mort Scott, Faculty (mixed media sculpting, mold making, metal casting); Allen Mooney, Visiting Professor (metal sculpting and welding); Ellen Land-Weber, Faculty (photography, 2D design); Bella Feldman, Visiting Artist (metal sculpting and casting); Dale Chihuly, Visiting Artist (3D design, glass sculpting and casting). San Francisco State University, 1988-1989, attended: Stephen De Staebler, Faculty (clay sculpting, figure modeling, ceramics).
EDUCATION
EARLY CAREER
MIDDLE CAREER
LATE CAREER
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Growing up, I was inspired by art of the human figure. Father drew lifelike portraits. We had books about Renaissance sculptors and painters. Mother said copy the masters. In college, anatomy and figure studies anchored my sensibilities.
With few exceptions, my professors were postmodernists, disinterested in figurative art. One said I would never understand abstract expressionism viewing it through a classical lens, a nuanced argument at best.
I wanted traditional skills, so I moved from school to school for their figure drawing and model sculpting classes, while studying metallurgy and modern foundry technique. Desperate to narrow the gap between intuitive art making and structured manufacturing, I experimented with ceramic shell for precision investment casting.
Skipping conventional wax patterns, I immersed combustible assemblages in shell slurry and after burnout, cast them in bronze. Abbreviating the ancient process allowed an ambitious sculpture series on consumerism, nuclear proliferation, animal rights, and industrial warfare. Functioning as social commentary, the pieces are visually narrative, allegorical vignettes.
Direct cast assemblage led to another innovation. I developed a cold-process vacuum table for taking molds of found object compositions. Along with rapid plaster casting, I used the molds in lost wax bronze casting and clay slip casting for ceramics. Assimilating industrial design and manufacturing, the device and sculptures combined are conceptual art. Similar to my direct cast assemblages, they are visual narratives evoking a post-technological society.
Innovating at colleges from Northern Virginia to California's North Coast set the stage for decades of work in fine art and diverse applied arts. I'm revisiting earlier concepts with twenty-first century design and fabrication methods, interpreting sociotechnological conditions unimaginable in 1980.
SCHOOLS & INFLUENCES
Northern Virginia Community College, 1980-1981, Associate - Fine Art: Paul Di Pasquale, Faculty (figure drawing); Hank Harmon, Faculty (2D/3D design); Don Brown, Faculty (printmaking). Virginia Commonwealth University, 1981-1982, attended: Bill Hammersley, Faculty (wood sculpting, 3D design, furniture design); Phillip Pearlstein, Visiting Artist (figure drawing and painting). Towson University, 1984-1985, attended: Adjunct Faculty (figure drawing and modeling). California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, 1986-1987, attended: Mort Scott, Faculty (mixed media sculpting, mold making, metal casting); Allen Mooney, Visiting Professor (metal sculpting and welding); Ellen Land-Weber, Faculty (photography, 2D design); Bella Feldman, Visiting Artist (metal sculpting and casting); Dale Chihuly, Visiting Artist (3D design, glass sculpting and casting). San Francisco State University, 1988-1989, attended: Stephen De Staebler, Faculty (clay sculpting, figure modeling, ceramics).
EDUCATION
EARLY CAREER
MIDDLE CAREER
LATE CAREER