Shroud Series

Man’s relationship to nature is central to my work. The methods, materials and forms I have developed examine questions surrounding the nurturing and honoring of nature after we have used, abused, and reaped its gifts. The pod shape itself derives from seed pods. This iconic shape is a metaphor for how we might relate to our natural environment; nurturing, abusing, mourning, or revering. The forms can be both wombs and shrouds; celebrating and nurturing the birth or mourning and honoring the death of nature. These particular pieces speak of death, as part of the circle of life.

After the Tide

An enduring interest in nature and the desire to educate people to the beauty that exists even in death led to this series of drawings. Rather than searching for that perfect shell or polished glass, I find elegance and fascination with the debris left behind when the tide retreats. Pieces of kelp, bits of sea plants and the odd shards from shells form a tableau expressing the importance and beauty of “ocean trash” and its place in the bigger ecological picture.

Mending Nature

The Mending Nature series stems from a rare hurricane, Ike, which passed through Columbus, Ohio leaving trees uprooted and natural debris strewn throughout the forest track I regularly haunt. My interest in environmental issues and man’s disregard for nature spawned a desire to mend or repair what was broken. This somewhat whimsical idea took hold in the studio as I effectively rebuilt and attached new parts to limbs and bark found on the forest floor. The work engenders ideas of reversing the damage wrought by man, examination of the beauty of even small damaged elements, and reverence for the dead.

Installation Florence

Travels in Italy over the past decade have prompted an examination of layers of history and culture particularly as it applies to religion and objects revered by the populace. Tabernacles, shrines, and icons based on Christianity combined with the predominance of stone fortress-like buildings of Florence engendered a discussion of paganism as a forerunner of Christianity and the desire to worship natural elements. These small sculptures are at once icons and votives. Placements of the sculptures in niches found throughout Florence effectively create tabernacles or shrines that worship paganism and invade the stones of Florence with fragments of nature.

Ghost Forest

The Ghost Forest Series is a continuation of the idea behind the Mending Nature series. Taken a step farther, these sculptures evoke what is no longer there. The ephemeral trees populate what could be a graveyard for the forest or perhaps an arena for renewal and regrowth.

Recreating tree forms from paper, which is commonly made from trees, completes the circle of life. Most of the sculptures are site specific, composed of bark and bits of trees found in a particular area. Each site dictates the form and content of the work; ash trees dying in Ohio, chestnut trees that are disappearing from both Virginia and the South of France, and olive trees that historically flourish in Tuscany

Eventually these forms will be returned to the forest from which they were born and allowed to decompose, once again becoming part of the land.

The Pearl Gate

created by siblings Kurt Steger and Char Norman, is a collaborative work, which creates a passage symbolic of personal and spiritual transformation. The piece represents many notions, some by intention, some by happenstance.

The sculpture is symbolic of a bridge transitioning from one world to another, representative of a book of five chapters written by the physical interaction of each person who passes through, and at the same time an experience of both birth and death as one moves through the piece into the light.

Rock Series

The Rock Series was born of my love of rocks; the colors, shapes, textures, and even the sound they make when moved about or knocked together. Rocks are tangible and solid and have remained in situ for eons. They are witnesses to history, and one can only imagine what narratives would unfold if rocks were to communicate.

A somewhat whimsical idea of cracking open a rock to release it’s memories led to the creation of cast paper rocks which open to reveal stories and images.

The use of paper to form rocks is a surprising contrast in materials. The addition of fiber and drawing media further enhance the dichotomy between hard and soft, and longevity versus transient materials.

Seed Pod Series

Seed pods are interesting shapes; they can be both womb-like or shroud-like.

The seemingly delicate forms are surprising strong, protective and nurture new life.

Replicating the colors, textures and interesting qualities of these bits of flora, that are simple discarded when their purpose has been met, may cause the viewer to notice and appreciate natural elements that might otherwise go unnoticed.