"I think of myself as someone who follows an idea rather than using a signature technique or image. Because I work with various ideas and represent them in different methods, I necessarily follow a path of learning both in concept development and material usage for every project. I have often worked with ideas derived from quotidian things: cardinals, charcoal grills, sleds, and vehicles that surround our daily lives. Finding a poetic resonance in these simple objects has been a central pursuit
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View moreArtist Medium: Visual Arts
I tend to be self-reflective and look to the environment around me as my primary resource for content. I begin with general objects or universal ideas – such as “what is MANLY?” – then look for poetic, associative responses within their existence. Recently, I have been particularly interested in considering how the male image is projected or represented in art and culture. This interest is fueled by the conflict between my Midwestern upbringing and my art school education, a conflict that has me grappling directly with the "Real Man" trope. In my daily life, I face this conflict having worked in an automotive body shop and raising a young son while trying to simultaneously make art. My art work raises questions of how beauty operates both within a symbolic popular iconography (hotrod car culture) and in the object itself (the crafting of the perfect paint job). In past work, I have used images of labor and auto culture as a springboard for analyzing ideas about perceived masculinity.
$4000-$65,000
M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art 1995
B.F.A., Colorado State University 1991
School of Architecture, University of Michigan 1984-88
Indianapolis Fabrications indianapolisfabrications.com
2015 Project Award, 2015, Monet Avenue Public Art Project, Rancho Cucamonga, California
2015 Monument, The Public Collection and Indy Reads commission, Indianapolis, Indiana
2012 USA Fellowship Nomination, Los Angeles, California
2010 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, New York
2009 Artist-In-Residence Sculpture Space, Utica, New York
2009 Efroymson Fund Grant, Indianapolis, Indiana
2008 Indianapolis Airport Commission, Indianapolis, Indiana
2007 Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, Indianapolis, Indiana
2007 Finalist/Runner-up, 500 Festival Legacy Project, Indianapolis, Indiana
2007 Loader, Whiter River Sculpture Park Selection, Indianapolis, Indiana
2006 Indianapolis Arts Council Commission, Indianapolis, Indiana
2005 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship
2004 Finalist: Battery Marine Carousel Project, New York, New York
2004 Artist-in-Residence, Sculpture Space, Utica, New York (did not attend)
2002 Special Opportunities Stipend, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
2000 Artist-in Residence, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Residency Program, Omaha, Nebraska
1998 Creative Artist Network Representation Grant, Creative Artist Network, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
