MATERIAL

What was the first material that you used to make art? How did that material come into
your hands? Who told you how to use it? What was their back round with that material?
How is that material connected to your current process?

The first material that I used to make art was plywood and dimensional lumber. I grew
up in a developing neighborhood that was only half developed when my family moved
in, only a few blocks away were mountains of scrap material. On Sundays in the
summer and the majority of the winter were large periods of down time for the workers,
which allowed me and a couple others to take our time sifting through the bins full of
useful material. With all of their interior structures exposed, the incomplete homes
functioned as guidelines on ways to use material.

What materials have you worked with along the way that you would consider important
to your current work? How did they each influence your current work?

Epoxy resin was an important discovery. It allows you to completely obscure and
strengthen the surface of an object, which has given me some freedom in my material
choice.

Whose uses of material outside your work do you think most influenced your sense of
materiality? (This could be anyone: friends, family members, famous or little known
artists, plumbers, carpenters, candlestickmakers, etc…?)Why?

Carpenters, specifically homebuilders have always been impressive to me in the way

they construct voluminous spaces quickly from very simple, planar material.

Do you think as materials as foundational (something basic to make things out of) or
contextual (more something to relate to put in context with other materials)? Discuss.

I think it is important for materials to have the opportunity to exist as both foundational
and contextual. In some instances a material is not meant to be seen or
acknowledged, and is covered, but the same material, even in the same piece can also
function contextually.

How does the materiality and physicality of your body relate to the material of your
work?How?

My work fully relies on the limitations of my body. It tells me how heavy or large I can
make an object, or how long I can stay awake to sand it, and how smooth I can make it.

Think about your relationship to color as a material. Do you think about color as object
force (something that exists as facts in the world) or as an subjective personal
opportunity? And how has that played out in your work?
In my earlier work I used color more as an objective fact than a subjective opportunity.
As my knowledge of color application expanded my awareness of how and when to use
color shifted dramatically.

PROCESS

What was the first image making or material process that you saw that you found
moving or inspirational?

The photographic developing process has always felt magical. There are so many
variables that shape the image it always felt distant and surprising from when the image
was captured.

What was the first process that you used in making art that felt powerful for you?

Constructing objects from wood was very powerful to me in the immediacy in which the
material could be joined or removed was

What art process do you hate?

Welding is a process that has never interested me. It seems to unforgiving.

What non-art process of making do you believe in?

Decision making

What non-art process of making do you object to?

Making messes

How does technique (both historical and your own) function in relation to materials that
you have used?

I often find myself having to learn traditional building techniques with materials
non-traditional to the process such as making a Corinthian capital from polystyrene
foam.

Do you think of their being a morality in terms of technique or process?

Absolutely.

Make a list of ten verbs that go into the process of making your work?

Subtract, join, cover, smooth, stare, spray, research, spend, devote, sit
What are the elements of your process in your work that feels the most private?

I think the most private part of my process is the lack of commitment to any plan for the
final product. The uncertainty of what comes next is something thats vulnerable but
necessary in my work.

What aspects of your process do you want demonstrate/have visible in your work?

In some objects I would like to make it clear that I have effected them in some way,
some objects I would like to look as though have never been touched.

Where do you set limits in your process?

I often set limits on how much I can plan ahead. I usually start with an idea for an
object and then allow for changes as it comes into existence.

What processes are you interested in bringing into your work?

Carving or subtracting is something I feel I haven't explored enough. Objects I have

made in the past have relied on the addition of parts or elements.

MEANING

What was your first metaphor that you can remember using in your work?

In one of the first sculptures I can remember making I used only magnets and framing
nails to create an object that appeared to be a natural simmering growth from the
building.

What metaphor/s has meant the most to you in your life?

Where else is meaning found in your work aside from metaphor?

Composition, materiality, process

How do you use known metaphors (or even clichés) in relation to mysteries of meaning
(or unknown meanings)?

I think that there is opportunity in expectation. We rely heavily on what is known to be

concrete, even the slightest shift in this concreteness can allow for new meaning to
develop.

Do you find more meaning in the realization of a work or in the process of making it?
Discuss how these two relate for you?
Im not sure if I can completely separate the process from the realization. In most of the
pieces I have made the final product relies on the interaction between multiple parts, in
hope that these parts form a more singular object.

Give an example where the “meaning” of a work of yours has evolved over the making
of it?

There was one particular piece I started to make right after I purchased a paint sprayer.
I started out making this piece trying to focus on the patterns in both natural and
manmade structures. As I started to finish the objects in a way I hadn't been able to
before, achieving a factory-like finish, the manufactured nature of all the materials was
primary to the patterns they contained.