MORPHOLOGY

Art is a visual study, an observation of the world around me, and a physical exploration. My interests in this project focused on both creating and studying the art object—one that reflects organic life, where I could explore the appearances of what eventually became my sculpture series, Cryptic Species. To examine the forty small works, I needed to assemble them. The title of the installation, Morphology, naturally led to my thoughts about the shapes and forms of the pieces. It became apparent as I created them that there was an evolution from base substance to complex structures, as well as between them.

To understand this convergent evolution in the appearance of unique yet similar traits, I arranged them in an ecosystem-like setting—one placed within gallery walls, on ‘laboratory’ tables, and resting on a bed of volcanic sand. As observers, we want to understand what we are seeing and how it fits into our understanding of the world. But sometimes, what is seen is play and imagining, not mimicry. The observer—the person leaning in to examine the sculpture—might be surprised by unusual combinations of synthetic and non-traditional materials. What I detected in the creation of these art objects was: curious and captivated, puzzled, yet intrigued; ambiguity eliciting delight, without recognizing, enthralled with the tension that exists between the definable and the undefinable.

It is interesting to observe that none of these works were carried out with the purpose of creating plant-based forms. Also of note, in the context of the sand bed, there is a strong connection to underwater habitat, giving the impression that the sculptures reference aquatic plant life.