Artist’s Statement
Artist’s Statement
In my work, I use steam bending, a technique discovered by a Czech engineer that allows creators to mould wood into different shapes. This technique has opened up new horizons for me and allowed me to give artistic expression to my passion for birds in the Canadian wilderness: their natural elegance, beauty and grace.
My objective was to reinvent the traditional wooden duck decoys and to rethink how birds are represented. Using exclusively North American wood -- black walnut, black cherry, red elm, ash and Canadian maple -- I slowly steam-bend millimeter-thin blades of wood, arching each segment into the desired shape, a clean-lined mix of joined and splayed fruitwood shards that morph movement into form. The choice of wood adds touches that are sometimes ethereal, sometimes solemn. The wood’s flexibility, roughness and stiffness suggest the movements of the bird to be born. All of my sculptures express a feeling of freedom.
My bird pieces are gracefully, elongated hand-laminated hardwood interpretations of some of Canada’s most elegant wild birds: geese, swans and herons.
My most recent creations are three-dimensional wall pieces. I use a collage technique including Japanese rice paper for forming landscapes, a new habitat for my wooden birds.
