Assemblage from 2008 to early 2009

: WAITING FOR GODOT, granite, twig, wire and metal
This piece evolved without any conscious planning on my part, but once it was completed, it reminded me of the minimalist set design I'd once seen for Samuel Beckett's play of this name.

: IN SEARCH OF THE PROMISED LAND
This artwork represents the Ark of the Covenant housing the Torah carried by the Hebrews after their escape from Egypt. It also contains the sacred Lamb's Horn and the Eternal Light, elements of synagogues around the world even today.

: BACK TO YESTERYEAR, found objects, wood construction.
Joel, here on a pony, is one of a series of 4 photos all together, that reflects back on a time of innocence in the 1950's and the early days of television when an itinerate photographer could walk down the middle of the street in the suburbs with pony in tow and attract a large following of kids eager to become Roy Rogers or Dale Evans. The poor pony, in all four photographs, has the identical posture, indicating that he hadn't moved an inch despite his heavy burdens.

: IN SEARCH OF A CURE, found objects, wood.
This olive drab wooden box found in an antiques shop reminded me of one that might have appeared in my father's laboratory in New Orleans where he was conducting research on steroids as a treatment for breast cancer. In those days prior to computers, my dad created graphs with colored plastic tabs to track the progress of patients in a double blind clinical trials.

: NO EASY WALK TO FREEDOM, found objects, wood, metal. No Easy Walk to Freedom is about how, in one way or another, we are all slaves: slaves to fashion, slaves to to the judgments of others, and slaves to the expectations of the culture into which we were born--our race, religion, social class and even our DNA. But the most important freedom of all is the one we carry inside--that deeper inner knowing that we are of value, that we count, and that no one can take this away from us unless we let them.
The rusty lock components stand here representing a symbolic prison. The bent mesh wire at the bottom suggest the breaking out of the confines of that "jail".

: BIG BIRD IN HIS TREE HOUSE, found objects, wood, duck toy.
Big Bird represents that wonderous six year old in all of us--that sweet, happy, eager and trusting soul. His house is messy but he also knows the rules of proper hygiene. His broom and tooth brush stand ready. Outside, the walls are constructed of an old black mental lunch box; inside, his nest is built of found objects from his environment: wood, wool, wire, flowers and feathers. A toy soldier at the back of the treehouse stands ready to protect him.

: SOLDIER BOY, found objects, wood, metal.
This is the back of the piece, "Big Bird in his Treehouse." The boy soldier "standing guard" was apparently created by my artist aunt. I discovered it among odds and ends in her studio after she passed away, and I felt a special connection with her artistic spirit using it as part of my own creation.

: CIRCLE GAME 3, found objects, metal.
This is my third piece on the theme of "Circle Game." Several of the metal objects in this assemblage are parts from a bicycle given to me by a friend specifically for inclusion in an artwork.

: WALKING MAN, found objects, wood, metal. Feet and shoes have always held a special significance for me, shoes, that is, that belonged to real people. They are our first point of contact with the earth. They root us in time and place. They carry our shape, they contain our DNA. They hold our stories. The title of this piece was taken from the song by James Taylor. His walking man doesn't know where he's going but he has the freedom and the courage to travel where life takes him. This reminds me of a poem, Faith, by Barbara J. Winter. When you come to the edge of all the Light you know, And are about to step off into the Darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing that one of two things Will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, Or you will be taught how to fly.