Trust The Tide

In my series Of The Sea, I created sculptural forms that articulate similar visual aspects of coral colonies.  Using brass, copper, and steel I used piercing and many forming techniques to appropriate many qualities of the living organism found on the ocean floor. It started as a therapeutic way of escaping into the processes I enjoyed and then expended into full forms that brought me back to beloved memories of and around the ocean.  I decided to mount the forms on wooden posts that are reminiscing of an old dock or pier.  I want the forms to not only feel as though they belong in the water but also that they are anchored

When coral in the ocean, it has a tendency to be drawn towards heat and nutrients.  Often colonies will form around the volcanic plates that are created by the shifting of tectonic plate.  These vents are underwater geysers of immensely hot water that is full of nutrients.  The amount of force that it takes to shift the plates is similar to a hammer acting on metal. 

I find that there are parallels between the process of hot and cold forging of metal that embodies the same creation, by striking upon the metal it moves and expands to the point of growing in size.

By combining the two together, I am able to have the forging and fabrication of the forms speaks to the miraculous process of life growing and forming around impossible conditions while the coral forms are the results of the literal interpretation of the process.