The current sculptures exist in The Paper Forest, an on-going installation in my studio in Grand Isle, Vermont. Pieces are often selected out for exhibition. The primary material is Abaca pulp, a banana leaf also known as Manila Hemp. It is beaten in a hollendar beater for eight hours to obtain optimal translucency and strength, then formed into sheets and molded over forms. The shrinkage of this paper is so high when restrained that it dries tight as a drum and translucent as skin, or else shrivels into some miraculous compression of itself. As a product evolved from the earth and processed by hand, it is an appropriate material.
Statement:
"My concern these days is to establish a dialogue with the natural world, and to present what is, without despair or agenda or irony."
