Artist Statement

Much of my work has addressed ancestors. If we look back far enough, our ancestors lived in caves. They were much like us, less the technological niceties: they ate and slept, laughed and argued, sang and danced or stood quietly by the fire. The firelight cast shadows of their lives on the walls. I try to sculpt those shadows.

This search for ancestral forms has taken me in several directions. In the first and most direct, I try to create human forms. In all the forms are quite simple, and have become progressively more abstracted with time, in my exploration of how simple the shape can be and still convey the impression of human form. In the most recent, Ancestors 00, several of the figures are literally just upright linear trunks. Yet even these imply humanity by their association with the others.

All of these figures are sculpted by joining a few simple shapes of wood. In their creation I intentionally retain some of the natural forms of the trees of origin in the final shapes. By this I hope that the viewer may see not only the human gestures I try to convey, but also some of the gestures of the magnificent trees of the northwest, from which they derive. In this sense the figures are also ancestors of the trees. They acknowledge the majesty of large trees. This dual ancestry is intentionally alluded to Ancestors 00.

I became interested in what tools our ancestors first made when they got their manual and intellectual dexterity together and began to devise utensils to make life easier. In searching for models I chose simple and pleasing shapes which are still completely familiar to us today; still in use. Among these are hammers, pitchers, and bottles. However in sculpting these forms, I increase the scale such that what is an object for the hand is rendered larger than a person. I hope that this dramatic increase in scale, this reversal of proportion relative to ourselves, may cause the viewer to see herself or himself, to realize that we humans are not really as big as we think we are. Additionally, I explore the sensuality of the forms.

Recently I wished that I had elders at whose feet I might sit for guidance. For example some might advise me as to how to best conduct the business side of my artistic career. To my dismay I realized that I know no wise elders in either the professional or the personal side of my life. I felt deprived. So I decided that I must summon them from within. This gave rise to a series of heads of crushed auto metal. Initially heads were mounted on posts. This then led to an exploration of the form of the pedestal on which the head is placed, under the influence of the formality with which the Romans presented busts of their heros. In Heros 99 the pedestal/bodies are created from short pieces of beams salvaged during demolition of old mills. This representation of the human form by pieces of dead cars on pieces of dead building acknowledges that our passage is marked by the debris which we leave behind.

These several veins of artistic exploration are ongoing; in the past year I have created pieces in all three categories. They are all part of the artistic path I explore. I have just now begun to create pieces which do not allude to h8man figure, which are completely abstract. Or, they may be about tree.

Michael Dennis
September 2000

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