Mentors
The series Mentors is a continuation of the artist exploration of the roots of traditional iconography. The artist, in this series studies the interface between reality and myth.
"The nature of our experience is corrupted by time. In a moment experience becomes observation, observation becomes narrative. Internalized, these narratives become part of us. From these experiences we create our archetypes."
The inspiration for each sculpture was an actual event in the artist's youth, or in the case of the "Blacksmith", a history narrated about his great grandfather who immigrated to the US at the age of 14 in 1854.
"I am attempting to distill the archetypes that I constructed during the course of my youth. Their unifying characteristics are self-assuredness, resolve and clarity of purpose all embodied in a single gesture. The fact that these men were at one with their physical self had a profound a effect on me as a youth"
The 1950s industrial town of Chattanooga Tennessee and the rich cultural traditions of the Southern Appalachian plateau are the sources of the artists experience. Here, individuals that he met as a youth have, upon reflection, come to represent his archetypes. These sculptures pay homage to the element of humanity that inspires these ideals.