I started my sculpture career with a very classical, figurative beginning, and, although my materials and forms have changed a great deal over the years, it is still possible to find remnants of the figure in my work. Most of my large outdoor wood pieces from the 1980s stand on two points (legs) and incorporate a separate element on top (body or arms). My granite work, started in the 1990s, also tends toward figurative or post and lintel forms.

When I incorporate several elements together to construct a sculpture, I look at the way they relate to each other, and ultimately how they work together as a whole. A tilt here and a cut there can change the attitude of the piece and gives each one its own distinct personality. When I create a piece with just one element, I tend to do more carving and editing of the material to achieve the same effect.

My work and the ideas behind it are tied very closely to the material from which it is constructed. I have chosen traditional, ancient mediums with which to express myself. I try not to manipulate my materials beyond their natural state; I imbue them with an expression of dignity and grandeur to release their spirit.

Pre-college I studied with Boris Blai (near Philadelphia), taking private lessons in his studio. Boris studied under Rodin and helped found the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. During my four years at Syracuse University, I experimented with abstract forms and used a wide variety of materials. Under Boris' tutelage, I had used clay and plaster, hand modeling. At Syracuse I began to use metal (cast and fabrication), plastics, wood, stone and ceramics. During my last year, I began to concentrate on cast metal, hand-formed sheet metal and small, carved wood pieces. My work became more true to the material (I did not mix as many materials together) and the forms became more self-contained.

In 1983, after graduating, I went to work at the Johnson Atelier Institute of Sculpture in New Jersey. I spent the next 14 years there as their Department Head of Installations. The 80s were a very prolific and important time of my life. I had ample space to work, and the experience of moving and handling large artworks started to have a profound effect on the size of my work.

My first large wood sculpture, "Boris and His Cat" was carved in 1985. It's made from one large piece of oak, 17 feet long. Many large wood pieces followed, some carved from one piece of wood, but most from several elements bolted together. I tend to do more carving and altering of the single element sculptures.

With the multiple element pieces, I rely more on the natural shape of the wood, and spend a lot of time moving the elements this way and that until I get the overall stance and movement that I want. Many people ask if I work from a maquette (smaller version). I do not. In 1988 I met Phillip Berman, a collector from Allentown, PA, who began to place my work on various college campuses in Pennsylvania. This gave me great exposure. It was also around this time that I had several sculptures included in Andre Emmerich's sculpture park in upstate New York.

In addition to the large, outdoor work I was also metal casting small pieces. These were made by combining wax and woodbark and directly burning them out in the foundry process. Each of these sculptures is unique, as there is no reusable mold. With all this outdoor work, I felt a need to make some work for indoor (gallery) spaces. I made several wood pieces, very much like the larger outdoor work. I also cast several of these configurations in bronze.

Mr. Berman worked closely with a stone shop in Allentown and suggested I try my hand at stone carving. In 1992 I made my first granite piece, working in a similar fashion to the multi-element wood pieces. The shape and weight of the granite dictated that I simplify the "stance" of the overall form, and, as a result, my work became almost figurative again (standing on two legs). I call these early stone pieces "walkers". The early and mid 1990's proved to be my most productive years ever. I was working with wood, granite, and bronze, and in 1995 I tried my hand at marble carving.

In 1997, I left the Atelier to run the metal shop at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. This meant the loss of my large, indoor work space at the Atelier, so for several years I did my work at the stone shop in Allentown. I worked only with granite. In 1999 I built my own studio and got back to working with several different materials again.

My latest two pieces, pictured here, are more horizontally-oriented than most of my previous work. The wood piece, "Floyd", I made specifically for children to climb on (it was named after the storm that brought the tree down). The granite piece, "Thoth" (an Egyptian moon god) was made after 9/11/01 and alludes to both the vulnerability we can feel after such a tragedy, and to the strength we can attain to rebuild and move forward.

I am often asked about the titles of my work, and for me, the title is very personal and directly derived from my life. Several of my pieces are called "Kashmir". That was the name of one of my dogs. Several are titled "Stevedore". My grandfather worked as a stevedore, so a piece with a large, high element being "carried" is appropriately named.

This last photo shows my largest piece to date, "Large Granite Arch", which is currently installed in New Hope, PA.

Dimensions: 18' high by 30' long by 10' wide.