ARTIST STATEMENT

During my Fine Art studies at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, I was introduced to glass.  I took stained glass as an elective. The idea of painting with coloured light was very exciting.

In 1980, I enrolled in the Kiln Fired Glass course at O.C.A. It was then that I knew this material is what I want to be working with and conquer. There I learned the technical aspects of warm glass. At this point I realized several  pieces of flat panels in clear, plate and coloured glass.

 Upon further discoveries I wanted to start to build with glass. I knew that working in three dimensions was more gratifying for me so I needed to learn about adhesives and the structural integrity of glass.

There is an abundance of chemicals, adhesives, tools and machinery for industry that I could use to construct with and create sculpture.  Glass for me was the primary material to use.  I started to combine it with metals, wood, stone and other material and discovered that glass begs to be partnered with other material.

Stone and glass speak to each other in harmony. There is a relationship there that is metaphysical; one comes to and goes from the other. 
Glass by itself is inherently seductive, it draws you near, it begs to be understood, it is a magical material that is awe inspiring.  This becomes a challenge for me as it needs to go beyond its sexy self to become sculpture. My challenge is to use it as any other artist’s material; hence I subdue its polished quality and take advantage of its translucent qualities.

The architect that I am not expresses himself through my sculpture. I love to make buildings, small ones, and put them up on pedestals or stilts. They are proud and symbolic of our values.

The human figure is another favorite common theme that I constantly work on. The idea for a  series titled “Falling Angels” materialized from a dream. In my sleep I saw ethereal human figures falling from the sky, their fall was graceful and carried messages of hope and love, and human fragility.  I knew that I must illustrate this, and glass was the perfect medium.

The light that makes glass magical is optimal outdoors, so I needed to bring glass outside and use it in the landscape. The challenge was to keep the Canadian winters from defeating it. This lead to further research, which allowed me to discover other technologies that can be applied to all of my sculptural explorations of glass.

RESUME

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