Ancient South Pacific islanders are believed to have navigated the open waters of the South  Pacific assisted by charts made from bamboo or reeds.  The patterns of waves reflected from the shores of distant islands were recorded in a configuration that could be held in one hand.  Sailers were enabled to predict the location of previously unknown and undiscovered lands by observing wave patterns.  Places like Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii and Easter Island may have been populated through trust in these simple, lightweight constructions.

Helix 19           2016

Latex Rubber and Twine on Pine Log

17” high & 23” wide

Three of 19 stable positions

Star Charts  2, 3, 4 & 5            1987 reconfigured 1997

Acrylic on Paper and Canvas on Wood Frame

32” high

Tetra,    2015

Acrylic and Twine on Chair Legs

As a variation on a tetrahedron, there of four stable positions

Untitled            2015

Acrylic Graphite and Twine

on Pine Log

45” high

Crown           2020

Acrylic and Latex Rubber on Twine on Pine Log with Knobs and Chair parts

24” across

Crystal Field          2016

Acrylic and Latex Rubber

on Maple Chair Legs

23” high

Untitled                2017

Acrylic, Canvas and Twine on

Pine Log with Chair Spindles       

17 1/2” high

Untitled            2017

Acrylic and Twine on Altered Chair Parts      

17”high

With a personal history as a woodworker, I have employed the structural sensibility contained in a chair as a metaphor for atomic or molecular arrangements.  Rotational connections refer to principles in Buckminster Fuller’s ‘Synergetics’.    I sometimes use manufactured furniture and architectural elements as components in my sculpture.

The design of my ‘Star Charts’ greatly influenced my ‘Eyes of the Earth’ series of paintings,

Star Charts

Much like the Islanders comprehension of the seas, our knowledge of the heavens results from the study of wave patterns of light that emanate from stars or bounce off planetary bodies. 

    Their two dimensional frames reminded me of the three dimensional works of R. Buckminster Fuller and Kenneth Snelson and I wondered how the idea of a similar diagram might play out in a sculptural form.  That was the starting point for my three dimensional Star Charts in 1987.

Navigation chart from the Marshal Islands

Unfolded Structure    2020

80” x 34” x 4”

Stanchions, cord and paper raffia.

Matrix     2020

4’ x 2’ x 5”

Acrylic on wooden stanchions, plastic webbing, latex rubber and paper raffia.  

   The form of the Covid 19 model, seen on TV, with its many projections, reminiscent of a crown could not evade my attention or even my dreams. It appeared to be a structure of thrown together bits and pieces of this and that.

Arc    2018

32” across

Acrylic, Cord and Paper Raffia on Rocking Chair parts.

Quasi-Thingy    2021

16” across
Oak rods, acrylic on rush & raffia

Tri-Square    2021

16” across

Dowel, acrylic on rush & twine

Hemi-Gem    2021

12” x 12” x 7”

Acrylic on wood, raffia and twine

    The geometric basis of Quasi-Thingy, Tri-Square and Hemi-Gem is that an octahedron, comprised of eight triangles, can also be thought of as an intersection of three squares.  Their crystalline structure is suggestive of the minerals magnetite, pyrite and diamond. 

Constructed Sculpture

    Triangulation and rotational factors play a major role in my constructed works.  If ever a meaning is connected to these works, it is in consideration of microscopic or even sub-atomic relationships. 

Duo Waveform    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panel

39” x 14 1/4” x 2”

Blue Wave    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panels

45” x 26” x 4”

Waveform Arc    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panel

39” x 14 1/4” x 2”

Octon    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panels

45” x 39” x 4”

Waveform Vortex    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panel

30” x 14 1/4” x 2”

Waveform Triad    2021

Acrylic on Floating Panel

30” x 14 1/4” x 2”

Six Flavors of Quarks            1982

Ceramic Tablets & Acrylic on Cast Aluminum

19” x 39”

   ‘Six Flavors’ spans the dimensions of past and present by employing cracked and broken ceramic tablets that suggest their recovery from an archeological site.  These are placed upon a waveform of cast aluminum, a newer process established only in the 1850s.  My interest in quarks began with a three part sculpture I made in the 70s.  It revealed a reversal of directions with attributes similar to the six types of quarks, Up, Top, Down, Bottom, Charm and Strange.