Sculptures

Scratching The Surface

This new body of work digs beneath the surface of discarded tires to unearth their shiny steel-belted lining. The unmasking of the twisted steel threads has revealed a Banker’s uniform of pin-stripes. I am using those steel threads to reference wealth.

I see the black twisted remnants of radial tires as foreshadowing our own extinction, made possible with our continued reliance on cars and oil. Even while we acknowledge the many problems of our current dependency on oil we resist change. It is our clinging to the past and ignoring the consequences of our actions that I am challenging with my work.

Steel-belted Tumbleweed I
Tire fragment, wire and acrylic box

Exposed and Contained: risk and denial III
Tire fragments, wire and acrylic box

Exposed and Contained: risk and denial I
Tire fragments, wire and acrylic box

Exposed and Contained: risk and denial II
Tire fragments, wire and acrylic box

Trickle-down Effect I: the separate distributions of wealth
Tire fragment, vinyl, resin and acrylic box

Trickle-down Effect II : the separate distributions of wealth
Tire fragment, vinyl, resin and acrylic box

Trickle-down Effect III: the separate distributions of wealth and its side-effects
Tire fragment, vinyl, resin and acrylic box

Untangling the Grid
Tire fragment, wire and acrylic box

Steel-belted Tumbleweed II
Tire fragment, wire and acrylic box

Steel Belted Grid
Tire fragment, wire and acrylic box

Big Blue
Tire fragment and acrylic paint

Too Big To Fail

These broken remains of tires are the perfect vehicle to represent the automobile industry and its shadowy companion, oil. Through their violent transformation, the tires have already gone from being utilitarian parts of society to roadside debris. These discarded tire fragments, after they are cleaned, up have an unexpected organic beauty, yet the remaining traces of their destruction introduce a tensionthat I play on as I assist in their final transformation to aesthetic objects d'art. My work explores our conflicted emotions about our desire for technology and the consequences that it brings.