Sandia Sunset Butterfly Sculpture

Everyone needs something that they do just for themselves, something that nourishes the spirit and keeps the pressures of life at bay. We all need to have one thing that symbolizes the space in our hearts where we are perfect beings. This is the one thing that I do just for me. When I don’t care if anyone is watching, the world stands still, and it is just the mesh, the shadow, the model, and me. When there is light, there are shadows in life and in art. Sometimes, those shadows are soft, flowing, mystical, magical, fuzzy shaded areas, and sometimes harsh, stark, profound, dark pits of nothing. Most interpretations rely on the experience and judgment of the viewer to decide whether it’s safe or scary or magic or fearsome. I shine a bright light on my work and watch the shadows take shape. I have been working with wire since the mid-nineties, and the interplay between light and shadow continuously surprises and delights me. I am a third-generation, primarily figurative artist. I have had various jobs and life experiences that have impacted who I am and how I create. I have studied with a variety of master sculptors and craftsmen. In October of 2023 I participated in an intensive, 10-week, 400 hour, rapid prototyping IoT course to learn to make SMART art for the City of Albuquerque. This experience has helped me grow as a person and as an artist. The opportunity to create not just a sculpture but genuinely interactive artwork that allows people to engage directly with it has advanced my art far beyond the realms of my inner limitations and deeply held understandings of my own capabilities. I look forward to making more exciting SMART artwork in the future.