When I started making Foundlings, I was exploring many aesthetic directions (actually I still am). One direction was how illustrative to be. Did these works need to have a concept or theme behind them or were these to be purely aesthetic statements.
René and is one of my earliest Foundlings. Named after the artist René Magritte, making Foundings that were surrealistic had a certain appeal. In this work the bolts not only added texture to the background but are drilled through the branch to continue the pattern. My hope was to make the branch look almost transparent—to be there and yet not be completely there. To fool the eye and confuse the mind.
Over the years I have gone back and forth trying to decide if this piece is successful. Most times I think the answer is no. To be a “slave” to a concept takes away from my voice I seek in creating these. Perhaps, on the other hand, the concept was sound but the execution was not strong enough to compete with it.
Every once in a while, I will look at this piece and see the branch begin to look transparent. Every once in a while I look at this and see the long path that I have been on since its creation. And every once in a while I look at this and smile.