Artist Statement 2023

I’m reluctant to label myself unless I connect a label to a certain task at hand. Under the title of “maker or builder” I consider myself a sculptor, carpenter, cabinetmaker, woodworker, or craftsperson. Under the broad title of “artist”, I may be a designer, engineer, environmentalist, sociologist, psychologist, seeker, or shaman. None of this fully fits how I see myself, and I dabble in all of it. There’s an old Scandinavian term called Slöyd. The simple meaning of Slöyd is “the intelligence of the hand”. For years I have been exploring within the context of my work the theory of the hand as the bridge between the head and the heart, the intellect and the intuitive. What I’m suggesting is that unless we have balance between these aspects, we will be more destructive than creative. In that sense I would label myself a Slöyder. Often the determining factor between art and craft is whether it is functional or not. My works are obviously non-functional, but with closer inspection they seem to do something, or perhaps they once did. Function or non-function, I make because I have to. Something drives me to create. It’s play, it’s hard work, it’s fun, it’s frustrating, it’s challenging, and it’s immensely rewarding.