Sculpture - Original Work

I was living in late 1970's Manhattan, working nights composing computer graphics for Typographic Images, a cutting edge, mid-town typesetting shop.  A friend introduced me to Abstract Expressionist Seymour Lipton.  Sy was in his eighties, and though still active, in teaching and design, was unable to do the heavy work involved, in creating his monumental works.   I found myself spending four days a week at his upper West Side brownstone, cutting, brazing, hammering, and assembling the elements of his Monel Metal design, while he spoke, of his life, his work, concepts of design, art, and the general state of the world. 

 When I went to him I had well developed metal and stone working skills focused on a jewelry scale.  With him I learned to imagine on a grander scale while he taught his process for exactly reproducing a maquette ten, twenty, or a hundred times the size, and how to evoke an emotional response through tensions created, in abstract relationships. Having worked metal minutely, and then monumentally, I thought to myself, "Now it's time to work stone to match the metal."  I bought blocks of stone, hammer and chisels, rasps and files, and set out to learn marble.

Since, as a working artist I've incorporated various media, in the realization of my ideas.  Gold and silver, stone and bronze, fiberglass and ceramic, wood and plaster, mortar and brick, etc., etc., possess different properties requiring different tools and technique, to acquire the finished form.  Categorical divisions, sculpture, jewelry, architecture, reflect organization of product.  The art involved, the creative process, is much the same, regardless the route traveled. It's a mainstay in my life, the thrill of the transit, and the satisfaction at having made the trip.