“I tend to create from an additive, organic mindset when creating a new work”

Although originally a musician/composer, in 1997, after renovating my home and finding myself surrounded by scrap materials: metal, wood, glass, paper and threaded rods, my inner recycler/packrat nature came to the surface and I began to mentally construct various creations with these materials knowing there would eventually be a use for every bit of it. So in time much of these juxtaposed shapes and materials became inspiration for various projects having a “Zen meets Industrial” perspective. Leftover 2” maple countertop became the frame for the “Dichroic Furnace”, excess birch became furniture and paired with vintage glass became a wood/glass series called ‘woodjets’. And finally scrap plate metal and threaded rods became the frames and canvas for the Thai paper series of light sculpture.

Of course many other aesthetics came into the process as well. For instance, an Asian influence is found in the choice of handmade Thai papers used in the first wave of light sculptures; the Quad, Tripod and Wedge series, while Japanese twig mats and dichroic film are used in the Twig series. Having always been fascinated by the play of light and the potential and properties of various materials to affect and enhance that became a welcome obsession. This was only enhanced by the interactive nature of the touch dimmers installed in each sculpture, allowing for ambient environmental control. Visions of Japanese lanterns and industrial steel smelters and fab shops came to mind and melded into one organic aesthetic to bring these disparate elements together into a singular theme. While the Zen values assured that everything would have a sense of balance and austerity, a background in music seemed to infuse everything with a sense of rhythm, texture, color, dynamics and harmony.

Described as everything from ‘Euro-Texan Art lighting’ to ‘Contemporary light sculpture’ to ’Asian Industrial’, to ‘Zenlightenment’, the lighting seems to combine a mysterious sense of the yin/yang of the finished with the unfinished, the timeless with the moment, the hard with the yielding, the dark with the light and the male with the female. Clients and collectors have told me repeatedly that they really just enjoy staring at the lights and being around them.

“When involved in any creative process –  music or art – I’ve found that I tend towards certain values and aesthetics. Among these are a gravitation towards organics and essence found via an additive process. Austerity in the sense of the unadorned, simplicity in the search for a minimalist beauty of essence and truth. To that end, in a physical sense, I choose to limit cutting, drilling, milling and manipulation as much as possible and in its stead: placement and juxtaposition of what is. The very environment of any creation I surround myself with contains the basic elements necessary for the item to be and armed with that and imagination I try to step forward in poesis. The materials speak, if we’re fortunate and aware, and allow us to do what we’re here for: to learn and hopefully grow from our evolving perceptions and possibly see the humor inherent in it all.”

Being a musician and writer, as well, and involved in writing and recording original music with the contemporary jazz/rock group Synergy Quartet, “I always seemed to be aware of structure, rhythm, color and dynamics regardless of the medium in which they are expressed.”

Each new piece represents a discovery of some sort, as well as, a new potential series of designs with many possible variants of every parameter: scale, color, texture, material, inversion, suspension technique etc. It’s quickly apparent that it’s all infinite and there’s only time to hint or imply very little of what’s possible.

Currently the lighting resides in contemporary galleries and private collections through-out the US and UK, and has shown in prestigious spaces, events and shows including: The McNay Museum of Art, The Austin Museum of Art, The San Antonio Museum of Art, The Design Center of Austin, Gallery Lombardi/Austin, Disney Corporation/Orlando, KLRN’s Annual Art Auction, Jefferson State Banks and private collections in New York, LA, DC, Seattle, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Miami, Orlando and London.

The lighting has also been profiled in the national design, art, architecture, green design and business press including : Eco-Structure, Sources + Design, Innovative Home Magazine, Natural Home, Brilliant Magazine, Residential Lighting, Hospitality Design,  

The SA Express-News, The SA Business Journal, The Austin Chronicle, SA Current etc.

Currently I have a number of larger, more ambitious works in various stages of planning and completion which I expect to realize in new spaces, making use of acrylic, calcite, fiber optics, diffraction gratings, dichroic film and glass, electro-luminescent materials, lasers, industrial lenses, mirrors, prizms etc.