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Found Object Sculpture

When I use the term "found-objects," I am thinking of things that had a previous life (use) and are identifiable as part of our life, or past. This makes the sculpture one step more interesting and experiential. My first use of found-objects was in 1963 when I saw a pile of scrapped woodwork from old houses. I used these pieces on the panel reliefs (Crucifixion, Temple and Renaissance). Shortly after I made Man and Woman and Leisure Society Plant, neither of which were made from pieces from old houses, but from those I moved into free standing fully three dimensional found-object works made of metal, and welded. I will explain the peculiarities of a few key pieces to explain some differences: The Scorpiosaurus, is a good example of using one thing, tools, and keeping their identity. The Texas Flower has contrived parts added. With Bull Mirror, I almost lost the identity of the auto bumpers, but the chrome surface and sculptural form were good attributes. Water Walking Bird bears mentioning because process is important here. The "winged" body part (if you can recognize it) was made from a portion of an auger which was "chopped", which pinched the ends of the tube; so, to create the neck-head portion, I had a curved pipe cut with a chopper so that it made the same pinched form at each end, thus relating in form to the found section of the auger.

Works like Guardian Angel and others that were made with auto wreck parts were put together, painted the colors that I wanted, and then the welds, now covered with paint, were burned to make it appear to be a spontaneous assemblage of parts that I was lucky to have found in the desired color.

A piece like the Monument For The 'Sixties was a complex combination of materials and processes. The top portion is made out of two riding lawnmower blade-covers put together back to back. There were scattered holes where the motor, shaft etc. were originally fastened. I used crumpled fender pieces to cover these holes so that it looked like a Trojan warrior-like "helmet" which appeared very strong and solid, was softening up and changing form. I observed that the Vietnam War effort was deteriorating and seeming malignant. So, I continued to use the hard-soft concept. (See the sides of the "stand" and underneath the very bottom.) This lower half was fabricated to my design and it does a number of things. It holds up the warrior helmet (head) but also makes the whole piece look a little like a combat medal.