Announcing "Afterburner," May 2017 at Tapp's Arts Center

If you've ever wanted to see the stuff I make but were afraid to ask, I invite you to come and have a look at Tapp's Art Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Pretty much everything I've done recently will be on display, including all the large sculptures that currently occupy my backyard. As long as we can do it without anyone getting hurt, we're going to haul them out of the garden and onto a pickup truck for a trip downtown. That should be fun.

I've spent a significant chunk of my discretionary time over the last month trying to get things ready to go. I fixed the rabbit's head, built a wooden base for the T-rex, finished the heron, and applied Penetrol to a couple of the outdoor pieces that I hope to sell. I still need to spiff up my giant dragonfly and my first triceratops and sign many of the pieces. All the small stuff is mostly ready to go.

I'm currently working on another large piece that I originally hoped I could complete in time for the show, but I don't think it's going to happen. I don't want to rush it.

Here is the description I wrote for the show:

"My work embraces the idea that our lives are entangled with things: we use them, abuse them, lose them, and throw them away. To my eye, that rough exposure to the world can add an unfakeable, unmistakable beauty to an object that is otherwise shiny and boring. Rust, scratches, and faded paint become markers for memories, reminders of what happened during a life lived. Through our interactions with them, some of our things become meaningful.

Taking that debris – whether it’s something personal or something anonymous that I plucked from the curb – and using it to create something new allows me to transform the slippery connection between the past and present into a tangible thing that I can handle and hold. For me, tuning all of these worn out pieces into an object with new life adds energy to the past in the same way that an afterburner on a jet engine increases thrust by injecting fuel into the hot exhaust gasses. Cutting, shaping, and welding all of this stuff together is inefficient, but I know of no better way for me to make the past part of the present.”

This is the first time I've done anything like this. It's a strange feeling.

Here is the event on Facebook. If you're in the area, I hope you can stop by and support the arts in Columbia.