Over the past 35 years, I have had a studio and public art practice in Chicago. I have had solo exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Montreal, and Seattle. I had four solo exhibitions at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago in 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2021. 2004. I had a solo exhibition at the Robert Steele Gallery in New York. (A complete list of exhibitions can be found on my Website CV).
I received my BFA from Alfred University in 1986 and my MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. The study of ceramics and the use of clay led me to transform hard, inert industrial materials, such as steel bars, screws, and hex nuts, into something soft and fabric-like. My MFA experience was especially formative and conceptually invigorating.
In 1988, I did an art residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. I then completed a residency at the Kohler factory in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1992 and at Bush Creek, Wyoming, in 2015. Each residency provided me with the opportunity to experiment with various materials and environmental conditions. For instance, for the Bush Creek residency, I made a temporary blue string pattern on tree branches in the mountains of Wyoming. At the Kohler residency, I was able to sandcast iron, brass, and bronze forms, which led to a solo show featuring 24 pieces with different surface treatments and colors.
I have received the following grants: Canada Council, 1987; Ontario Arts Council, 1989; Pollock-Krasner Grant, 2011; and a DCAE Grant, 2015. The Pollock Krasner Grant was especially pivotal in expanding my studio practice. I completed public art commissions in downtown Cincinnati in 2007, the Kimball Brown Line Station in Chicago in 2008, the University of Wisconsin in Kenosha in 2009, and Downtown Phoenix in 2008. Additionally, I worked on projects at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta in 2018 and the Quincy Veterans Home in Quincy, Illinois, in 2024.
Statement
I am is interested in transmuting the inherent inertness of industrial elements into a radiant, sensual energy. Using machined metal parts in whimsical, playful, and sometimes irreverent ways, I reshape the utilitarian view of industry into an expansive sensory meditation that unites the intellectual and the physical. In his work, materials such as nuts, bolts, screws, hex nuts, steel bars, and more blossom into a larger realm of fantasy.
I am inspired by intricate structures and systems, such as microbiological cell shapes, digital pixelation, landscape topography, and botanical structures. I fuse these influences to create fluid and sensual gestures that defy the industrial bounds of my materials.
Through repetition in organic configurations, the materials that I utilize become intimate extensions of ourselves. In many of my pieces, I weld industrial components in different repeating patterns, forming a mosaic-like skin. This “skin” is an inviting surface that invites the public to engage with my work through its tactility. Every placement of the bar or screw is a mark forming a meditative continuum that is transferred from my working process to the viewer.
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