Artists Describing Their Art:
Paul Carbo - I started messing round with wood in 1999 while still working as a graphic artist for the Los Angeles Times. We all worked on computers at that time and I was craving to do art with my hands like we used to back in the "dim time" before computers. I initially started to build small functional art pieces for children. Things like paper and pencil holders. I then progressed to larger caricatures of famous people I thought kids should be aware of like Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain, still intended as furniture for children. I would store the finished cabinets in my living room. They mingled well with my other furniture and and found I using them to store CD's,books ans such. At that point I said to myself " Why wouldn't grown-ups like this kinda thing"? I left my job at the newspaper, forged on and continued to build....
Paul Orzech - Paul Orzech Sculpture Studio Artist Statement: The heart of my artwork is expressed by the words "Classical form with a modern edge." As an artist, I feel the need to incorporate the classic concepts of the human figure from the Ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance periods, with the more message-oriented elements of today's art. My belief in the beauty and power of the raw human form is exquisitely celebrated in the classical forms of sculpture. The modern themes I treat in my art include feminism; contemporary ideas of spirituality and love; and the all consuming presence time plays in our fast-paced American lives. I feel there is a quiet strength in the combination of established classics and contemporary expression that demonstrates a smooth continuity of social history. ...
Angela Treat Lyon - I make art because I must. It's a cellular need. It's a compulsion, an addiction, a Beingness I cannot deny. Simply put: Art is Spirit moving through any particular medium, whether it be stone, music, cooking, dance, speech, or whatever. Create an intention, take action, results follow, fine or not. Images dwell within me getting fat and juicy until they just simply will not allow me to sit on them one more minute. Many many nights I'll wake up with designs in my head, all clamoring to come out at once, and I'll have to get up and draw furiously till they're out and happy. When I was very young, I made a pact with myself not to do any artwork that depicts pain and suffering - why paint that when we see so much of it all around us, every day? What I wanted to see and surround myself with was expressions of the feeling I had in my heart about how I felt it could be, and really is, on levels we don't normally think about or have visual access to during the glaring light of day. I want my work to do ...
Elena Osterwalder - When people leave their homeland, their home memories freeze in that instant, and without them realizing it both the country and the people progress in divergent directions. The external influences of the new country tend to be assimilated with the old ones and in "The Arts" form a new esthetic with components of both cultures. Years later the yearning for what was left behind takes a hold of them and forces them to look back. In my case using components that have historical and spiritual value in the Mexican tradition, I strive to converge the various cultures that have influenced me and create a 21st century aesthetic. Cuando uno deja a su pais , el recuerdo de su pais se congela en ese instante y no se da cuenta que tanto el pais como el mismo progresan en direcciones divergentes. Las influencias del nuevo se asimilan con las antiguas y en "Las Artes" forman una nueva estetica con componentes de las dos culturas. Anos mas tarde cuando cree que ha incorporado ambas culturas, la anoranza de lo que ha dejado detras toma mucha fuerza y lo empuja a mirar atras. En mi caso...
Ali Gallo - Uncovering and bringing to the surface what boils beneath creates the tension necessary for a dialog to begin between the idea and the artist and/or the art and the viewer. Finding anyway to create this tension, gouging, scratching, laying, etc in a painting or sculpture allows for deeper inspection, providing the incredible power of metaphor for the human condition....
Sylvia Volpi - PHILOSOPHY: To be an artist is to be creative, autonomous, conscious, bold... It is to dare and allow yourself the delirium, reach the imaginary, the fantasy, the pleasure, the beauty ... To wish for the real and to wish for the impossible. It's to open wide, through your work, desires, fights and sorrows in a disclosure. The creative process is the product of the hand , the mind, the imagination and of the work, which is motivated by the search for a conquer: THE CONSTRUCTION OF YOUR OWN SELF. ...
Jack Hill - All of my sculptural work is bronze, cast in the "lost wax" technique. Besides sculpting the original work, I am hands on with all the phases of the casting process, including the molds, waxes, metal, and application of the patinas. My foundry experience allows me to ensure the quality and integrity of each idea, from inspiration to final presentation. The ideas are born from observation of the human existence, in all its splendor and absurdity. The addition of my own whimsy and uncommon approach brings about an expression of life in the permanence of bronze. People are only one part of the whole planet and my anthropomorphic works are an exploration of the blending of man into various parts of the environment. With attention to anatomic detail and a tongue-in-cheek twist I wish to stimulate the imagination and, maybe, tickle the funny bone. Questions? Call me at 305/240-3238 A new line of work has been added that I call "Body Armor". The human form is treated as if skin was an armor that could be put on or removed as needed. If it had been lost long ago and recently rediscovered, what would it look like. ...
Don Dougan - My work comprises both abstracted and figurative imagery executed in a variety of mixed materials, with stone being the predominate medium. Other materials used (usually in conjunction with stone) include foundry cast metals, carved and joined wood, cast and fabricated plastics, cold-worked and kiln-formed glass, cast and carved hydraulic cements, cast/formed paper, welded/fabricated metals, gilding, and found/assembled objects. The more abstracted imagery is worked in pedestal pieces, large freestanding sculptures, and in wall-mounted relief sculptures. The figurative lip series is usually presented in wall-mounted reliefs, deep shadowbox framing, and occasionally as either a pedestal piece or a large freestanding work. The most recently begun series of work comprises pedestal-sized pieces using the imagery of the ship or the boat hull. Each series or each type of work allows me to express aspects of the human condition - the more abstracted works tend to reveal a more universal emotional/rational characterization of subject matter, the lip series tends to allow sensuality, humor, and more visceral expressions, while the ship series delves into personal/cultural memories and emotional journeys. For more images and information on myself, my work, and my working methods please visit my ...
Sal Villano - The inspiration for creating my sculpture grew from a lifetime love of trees. I am in awe of the stately presence and silent majesty they posses. I find the structure of trees to be one of the perfections in nature. With their roots embracing the earth; in winter they show their bones, in spring gentle buds, in summer a canopy of green and in fall a magical kaleidoscope of colors. Beauty, pure beauty. ...