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Contemplation / The artist at three years

Cultural Value of Bronze

Biography

Photo Album

On Art

“Standing in front of the ovens in Auschwitz at age ten and traveling through Southern India, I witnessed the pain and brutality of humanity; but from that same humanity, I have witnessed also instances of humanity's rare and unearthly beauty, of hope, compassion and faith”.

“One of the most crucial human qualities, I believe, is empathy. Given empathy, brutality becomes impossible. Empathy is at the heart of our humanity, and in fact is the heart of our humanity, for it reduces the barriers of race, religion, and creed to items of mild interest, while unlocking our true, inherent human dignity. The act of encapsulating empathy in some medium, be it dance or music, painting or sculpture, simple stories or more complex forms, is my definition of art. The feeling and then the sharing of an emotion or idea — which is the essence of art — is what makes us human”.

“Art should touch us ... and I fell in love with art by touching it — when in Rome in the mid-1950s, my mother held me up and I touched the foot of Michelangelo's Moses. That was my introduction to the power of sculpture — that is, to the miraculous ability of sculpture to convey emotion”.

“To me, art is not a luxury. It is one of the basic human necessities. From the earliest artists — Stone Age storytellers around the fire in a cave — to the shapers of bronze today, art has pervaded our societies. I see the artist not as a creator but as an observer and recorder and conduit, through whom messages of value are interpreted and passed on for the benefit of all. Art can, and should, remind us of our humanity, and that of others, and enhance the quality of our lives”.

On Talent

“I have come to see the idea of “talent” as one of the most brilliant marketing inventions of the past few centuries. The elitist idea that God, or happenstance, singles out and grants special abilities to a few individuals has been the basis behind exorbitant prices for art. This is attractive if you happen to be a "chosen" artist or an art dealer, but I think that this concept is destructive in an insidious way. From well — meaning parents and teachers, children who don't display an immediate affinity for creating so — called "good art", are often told they do not have talent. Impressionable children become accustomed to that self — image, and this becomes an excuse, sometimes throughout their adult lives, to avoid being truly creative. Most of us carry a desire to create, and when suppressed, that inhibits our growth”.

“During my exposure to many diverse cultures and people, I have come to believe, on a very deep level, in the infinite potential of every human being. I have seen people overcome immense obstacles to achieve a goal. I don't label these people “talented”, but rather dedicated and committed. I was not born “talented”. My first bronze was used as a doorstop in the foundry. My second one was used as a boat anchor. I developed a deep level of commitment and determination to express myself to my fullest potential and to master my art”.

“I am honored and encouraged that my work speaks something of value to so many, and have been told that I am talented. But I feel that my effort is most appreciated by those who comment that I 'must've worked hard'. I get the feeling that the person has an inkling of the years of learning and of trial and error, the literal blood, sweat and tears, and the weighty sacrifices I've made to accomplish whatever I have”.

“When it comes to creating art, or learning anything, some people are slow learners and others are fast learners. I am a slow learner but I take heart from the story of the tortoise and the hare”.

Deep Water Blow Eyes

“I think that the point of life is to discover our voice, and then to train and use that voice the best way we can. If higher value must be assigned to one person's voice over another's with terms or labels such as “talented”, I believe it should refer to how that person develops that voice, and the level of commitment and sacrifice in that development”.

“Creativity and invention are important parts of the essence of our humanity (as referred to in the passage “...created in the image of God...”), and to discourage a person from exploring that connection is to deny that person something crucial. One of the worst ways to damage a child is to convey that he or she is not as talented as another, that his or her creativity isn't as important — but to encourage and support the development of any voice is to give a powerful gift to an individual and a society.”

My Art Direction

“Every human being is born with an element of loneliness or a sense of separateness, and our fulfillment and mental health are dependent upon our discovering ways to forge bridges across the chasms that separate us from others. My feelings of separateness were intensified by growing up relatively rootless as a racial minority surrounded by many varying Central Asian and Oriental religions, languages and customs. I felt a need to find some unifying connection to humanity, and came to see art as my most effective means of cross — cultural communication, bridging the gaps to connect me to others”.

“My art direction had to do with disliking an elitist style requiring education to understand, but rather wanting a style and content that would be immediately understandable to anyone of any language, culture or level of education. Since human emotion is common to all people everywhere, I felt a need for my art to genuinely and simply communicate on a level of human emotion and empathy”.

“My Oriental childhood left me with a fascination with intricacy. I lived in Thailand for eight years, and my parents took me to art museums all over the world. I had always been extremely attracted to the complexity of the wood, stone and ivory carvings I saw in the Orient”.

“My early life in Asia as a racial minority — one little white kid surrounded by a million brown faces — getting spit at and having stones thrown at me while walking to school has led me to an extreme dislike of any segregation or prejudice. To classify is, in some ways, to limit. I dislike isms, but if I were forced under duress to classify myself as an artist, I would say that I lean toward Romanticism, Humanism Impressionist thinking, and Synergistic Approach. I am interested in not just sculpting a person, but rather in trying to capture a bit of what that person is feeling, and to achieve that, I use any style or concept that works, regardless of art world “rules”. I might synergize the grace and complexity of the art I loved as a child in Asia, with the power of Western art, the pure form composition of Modern and Impressionistic abstraction. Each work of art is a blend or recipe of numerous ingredients, dictated by the needs of the particular piece, and I pursue that piece until I feel a sense of completion”.