The images that I sculpt deal with reflections of human traits. Wood lends itself to this endeavor, offering minimal resistance to manipulation. Keeping the origin and qualities of the material while manipulating it into another object is a statement within itself. Letting the wood do what it does naturally keeps the viewer in touch with the fact it is still just an object of nature. Wood does not make itself any less real because of the relationship of the sculpture to it as wood.

Most of my childhood was spent in either the expansive suburbs of north Texas or on a farm in southern Oklahoma. The experience of growing up in these two regions has done much to shape my sense of aesthetic. From these early experiences, I have developed two completely divergent ideas of beauty which I've tried to reconcile in my artwork. The first influence is that of sparseness, simplicity and the commonplace. This influence comes from the emptiness of the suburban landscape, the sameness of its architecture and the need to find beauty in mundane things as a simple cure for boredom. The second major idea is centered around peculiarity, chaotic complexity and irrationality. This interest originally stems from early memories of my grandfather, whose experiences in Oklahoma during the Great Depression gave him the obsessive habit of never discarding anything for fear that he might need it some day. The complexity in meaning that comes from unfamiliar combinations has allowed the ideas in my work a kind of ambiguity that frees it from any singular reading. I think the content of my work could best be described as constructions of memories, experiences and influences. I never speak about any one …

My approach to the art making process is a kind of poetic reverie on forms and spaces. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary defines reverie as “a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a daydream, a fantastic, visionary or unpractical idea.” It is a romantic notion that has less to do with the big questions of existence than it does the incidental parts of daily existence. Reverie is a state of mind that comes from being receptive and finding simple pleasure in the affects of imagination. My paintings, drawings and sculpture evolve out of the freedom to imagine shapes and spaces that describe different kinds of interactions. They come from recollection, awareness, and observation of the diverse sensual phenomena that surrounds me. The variety of interactions between forms such as contrast, imbalance, balance or synchronicity, have the potential to evoke various aspects of being: vulnerability, uncertainty, confidence, and determination. Possible interactions between shapes and spaces are what intrigue me most. Recently, I expanded the investigation of form to include objects and consideration of space. As the scale of my paintings and drawings grew, I became interested in the effects of three-dimensional objects in a space, such as a gallery. My inquiry …

Investigating the behavior, function and appearance of ceramic materials has proven an enduring point of interest throughout my education. In learning about the vast range of the earth-yielded materials and their physical manifestations in states ranging from wet to dry to fired, I have found myself excited and challenged to seek out ways to expand their presentation. My attention has been repeatedly drawn to the class of ceramic materials that frequently get classified as “glaze ingredients.” Understanding the structural and visual qualities of these minerals and compounds was an interest whether I was making tableware, tiles, or sculpture. For the purposes of this paper, I propose to deal expressly with the physical art-making considerations of material and process as they relate to my work in ceramics. By directing my focus as such, I hope to center my work on a concern that became evident to the art world upon the display of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain: material equals content.

Modernist painters such as Picasso, Ernst and Matisse were among others who incorporated what was then considered "primitive" art, mostly from Africa and Oceania, into their works. Prior to this, European artists had appropriated Greco-Roman themes and characters. These appropriated elements were consequently recreated without their cultural context and content, altered to reflect more current themes. In most cases, attention was directed toward the recreator, the author of the new work of art, not the creator of the artifact. In contrast, Post-Modern artists, including myself, have reproduced appropriated elements virtually unaltered as a way of denying authorship and emphasizing a more conceptual format. Appropriated imagery has been a tool for me in my work. Additionally, both figurative and abstract elements play significant roles since I consider juxtaposition of elements to be a strength. The challenge of fitting these elements together has enabled me to develop a style of painting that seems uniquely mine. The formal issues of style and content figure heavily in my endeavor to capture a moment in time; something lost forever except for its persistence in memory. These reflections are often imbued with personal icons, arcane text and symbolic drawing that weave in and out of the …

This problem in lieu of thesis centers around my work and involves the production of the film trilogy Knife, Fork and Spoon. The methodology for this project comes from my investigation of postmodernist theory and social norms. Three problems are addressed and my professional procedures and practices that helped me find solutions while working on these films are included in chapter two.

In an effort to continue the conceptual and aesthetic growth started in graduate school, I have produced a body of work dealing with the relation between the fragmentation of the figure and the self-perception of beauty. I produced twelve prints that have been exhibited at Cora Stafford Gallery. I have analyzed the body of work conceptually and formally and chose to discuss six pieces in a problem- in lieu-of-thesis. My work and book references informed the content of the paper. I divided it into three chapters; Introduction, Description of the Work, and the Conclusion. Within the body of the paper the paragraphs are sectioned into descriptions, methodology and intent of the six pieces. I went into detail of the process and content and addressed the questions posted in the Statement of Problem.

The challenge of this project was to present subject matter in a way that did not seem common to the viewer. With this goal in mind, I aimed to switch the traditional roles of material and form in order to aesthetically elevate the commonplace. For my proposed project I combined traditional sculptural materials and processes with commonplace subject matter. I took a chance at the beginning of this project by making something that I had been joking about until I realized that this might be an interesting piece. From this point on I made a conscious effort to make whatever popped in my head. Although I am not a literary person, it seems that with this body of work I backed into what I might call "ironical metaphor."

I believe that the ability to change and freely rearrange a drawing or painting by erasing or painting over a mistake allowed me the freedom of spontaneity, whereas the perceived finality of printmaking hindered a freer approach. I began to start thinking of my prints as if they were my paintings or drawings. Fully freeing myself from planning any of my work has led to some unforeseen consequences. I have begun to realize that the work creates a life of its own. Some works have a greater influence over me and tend to live longer in my work. These pieces, whether they are drawings, paintings or prints, start a chain of ideas that push me to investigate new areas of conceptual and formal application related somehow to these first influential works.

I look at the world as a sculptor, examining physical constructs and implied meanings. My current research developed from my earlier studies of “containment” or, more specifically, “encapsulation,” creating visual, often physical, boundaries around selected content. Encapsulation confers a more active role than “containment”, a process rather than a result. This idea speaks to the issues of form, and asks the viewer to question the outside “shape of the form” in relation to the inside shape and content. My work focuses on exposed interior spaces and forms, allowing the viewer to enter the space physically as well as mentally and psychologically. Built in a large enough scale, the viewer could actually become the content. The sculpture’s interpretation revolves around the seen as well as the unseen. I built this duality into my work by using transparent and opaque materials. I also implemented small diameter stainless steel rod along with the transparent and opaque vinyl to reduce forms to their respective shapes and volumes. This approach allowed me to clean the “slate” of an object’s collective meaning and context, adapting it to the intent of my work.

For the past two years my artwork has focused on the cultural issues of a Mexican immigrant community in Fort Worth, Texas. The primary focus has been women and the way in which their homes reflect their blending of two cultures. The occupants of the homes are people that I know personally, including my immediate and extended family as well as friends of my family. Undocumented women usually have the most difficulty in adjusting. Although some do work outside of the home, many of these women spend countless hours inside due to their inability to speak English or drive. These women have little hope of returning to their homeland because their children are being raised in the United States. In order to feel more at home, the women make every effort to re-create the Mexican culture in their new houses. Thus, acculturation takes place with very little cultural loss. Instead of previous strategies of total assimilation, these women blend the two cultures, making it easier to adjust to their new lives.

The internal necessity to rediscover myself constantly drives me back to the country where I spent most of my life, Mexico. I was born and raised in the heart of the world's largest metropolis, Mexico City and through the years I have photographed in locations with important significance for Mexican culture as well as for my personal history. I reorganize and reinvent these places, and by staging models there, I construct my personal interpretation of the Mexican way of life involving the world of “manana” (tomorrow) with its “dictadura perfecta” (perfect dictatorship), where opposite and contradictory situations exist side by side. I am particularly interested in the relationship between people and their environ-ment and I use this theme as a means to explore my own identity as a Mexican. One strategy involves juxtaposing cultural signifiers of Mexican culture. My images are an examination and a projection of my ideals, fears, and dreams about my country and myself.

The purpose of this investigation is to explore the possibilities of manipulating clay in three distinct ways to effectively show that clay objects were at one time moist and pliable. The techniques used are faceting while wet, manipulating a variety of additions, applying different glazing techniques, and three separate firing methods. In addressing the problem, the following concerns were considered: (a) Which of the pieces made best expresses my aesthetic concerns? (b) Which firing method, oxidation, reduction or atmospheric, best illustrates these concerns? (c) Which glazing technique was most successful? In an attempt to explore and solve these problems, a series of twenty pieces were produced. A visual record of slides showing individual pieces were made to demonstrate the differences and similarities between firing methods.

I believe that our individual religious experiences are just that, individual. Each of us has a different reaction to every narration, sermon, situation, and experience. Further, I believe these experiences are understood and maintained in or through abstract thought. In the parable of Jonah and the whale, what do you picture while reading the story? Most of what took place lacks any physical evidence of existence. The voice of the Spirit, the face of God, the sound of prayer in multitude, even the person begin swallowed by the fish, are all abstract in character. My paintings are visual investigations into the idea that most of our religious experiences and concepts are abstract in nature, thought, and experience. Continuing my exploration of how my specific Christian experiences can be expressed through abstract painting, I investigated how the placement of the ellipse or ellipses as a dividing line affects the field and how surface development, layering and the expressiveness of high intensity colors affected the specific experience or Biblical narrative chosen.

During my career producing functional ceramics, I have followed a very traditional working methodology. As with many functional potters, I have always maintained a high level of productivity. Making many similar pieces allows me to develop an idea and to refine it through the working process. My method for developing a new piece is to first design the form, then to decide upon the desired manipulation of the surface planes and surface, and finally to consider the glazing and decoration to refine this new piece of pottery. I work with the new form systematically attempting to isolate and change specific elements, attempting to make each piece in the series more successful. Finally, changes are made to alter the form and decoration in order to achieve an integration of the new design into the present whole of my work. I make every piece intending that quality and craftsmanship will define each piece as an exceptional piece of pottery. Although my intention is that every piece be exceptional, the percentage of exceptional pots is not that high. In each kiln load, a minority of pieces meets my specific criteria of exceptionality. Although the other pots in each kiln load are of high …

The problem I choose dealt with a new material to use in conceptual art. Since the nature of my work deals with ribbed sculptural forms that explore conceptual abstractions of recorded observations, I investigated a new material called composites. A composite is defined as two or more materials that are combined to share the best qualities of both. Laminated foam core, nylon fabric weave, vinyl, and resin composites may introduce an aesthetic and structural advantage to traditional material such as wood and metal. Innovations in laminated composites and methods of joining unfamiliar materials could offer an advantage for these new sculptures. A series of six ribbed sculptural forms were constructed, which consist of laminated composite material relating to personal observations expressed in my journal in the last quarter of the year 2000. The material was introduced in the desire for a cohesive formal relationship between the concepts and the forms. Patron, 2001 Mixed Media, 19"x 8"x 4"; PDQ, 2001 Mixed Media, 10"x 8"x 2"; PDQ2, 2001 Mixed Media, 21"x27"x3"; Bishop, 2001 Mixed Media, 23"x11"x5"; Coaster, 2001 Mixed Media, 14"x12"x9" and Putsch, 2001 Mixed Media, 69"x48"x24".

In this body of work I have attempted to unify those aspects of utilitarian pottery and sculptural ceramics which I value most. I intended to join the inherent interactive nature of pottery with the capacity of sculptural ceramics to convey content through a personal aesthetic. Through this exploration I have developed a stronger personal expression in clay.

The duality of repulsion and attraction is present in all aspects of life, neither existing exclusive of the other. This awareness has manifested itself in the need for creating work addressing the complexity of this duality and finding a balance that relates to human experience. The purpose of his problem in lieu of thesis was to combine my concept of the attractive, present in my early graduate work, with explorations on the concept of repulsion, to heighten the visual and psychological dynamic of the whole.

The focus of my work was a study of contrasts which entailed taking a found natural object out of its original context and combining it with certain constructed man-made elements and allowing an interplay between the components to occur. The contrasts and interplay between these organic materials and their physical incorporation into objects of art/jewelry have been enhanced by further exploring the differing natures of the various materials used and the tension created by the placement of these materials. Through the juxtaposition of organic mateirals, refined materials, and man-made materials and by constructing them in an architecturally sensitive manner the contrasts were heightened.

I plan to investigate the fusion of predominantly linear marks with solidly rendered forms to create a sense of space, depth, and texture within a series of paintings. The investigation will seek to answer a four part problem related to the creation of a series of paintings. The four part problem will explore whether or not the combined use of line, textural surface information, and buried images will have the potential to operate as an expressive agent in painting. This investigation will also address the series as a whole by evaluating the evolutionary process which may occur when color and solidly rendered forms are re-introduced to the canvas and combined with the primarily linear marks.

I have suggested that the ornamental element employed in my painting functions as historical, cultural and social text, and also as a carrier of ideas and ideals about beauty and art which have been invalidated by the Modernist view. I will explore how the elements of painting: material, paint application, palette, figure/ground relationship, scale and other formal and technical factors, combine and interact to transform, contradict, subvert or negate the ornamental element in the painting; and how in turn these combinations effect the way the paintings function both formally and in terms of content.

My problem was to develop a personal symbolism within my paintings that expresses my identity. Who am I? Who have I been? Who will I be? Since these paintings are a way of telling my story. One aspect of the problem was communicating my ideas, making the paintings readable. Representational and recognizable images are culturally traceable symbols. The intended reading of the symbols may be generally understood; however, some degree of ambiguity was anticipated since ambiguity is an inherent aspect of symbolism. IN so much as I value symbolism and communicating ideas I believe that ambiguity is equally important. I proposed to balance readability with mystique. Things of the inner self are not immediately evident but found through contemplation. They hold mystery.

Prior to 1990 I worked exclusively with large scale formats, using traditional oil painting media on canvas. During that year I became interested in the effect produced by more intimate passages within larger works. Discovery of a scroll of Chinese ink drawings in 1992 increased my interest in small scale composition.

It was my intent to find objects that were both historically symbolic and symbolic of the times we live in, and that could be melded into a nineteenth century interior where their presence would be secondary to the overall atmosphere. I wanted to incorporate objects that would function as metaphors or personal symbols as well as historical icons.