I work primarily with iron and steel, utilizing the traditional forging techniques of blacksmithing, coupled with modern machining, fabrication and digital design. The creative potential unleashed by this combination, along with the physical struggles and technical hurdles that the medium presents, motivate my work daily. The basic methods I use to work directly with hot steel – heating it to temperatures that render it soft, malleable, and plastic, and shaping it using a hammer and anvil - haven't changed substantially for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Modern industrial equipment in my studio like pneumatic forging hammers and hydraulic presses have augmented these basic processes, and I am able to leverage technology to manipulate the material more effectively, opening doors to creative exploration and expression. The operations of forging – the heating, hammering, pressing, bending, and forming – are evident in the richly layered textures and remnant marks left upon my work at every step, revealing the determined and focused forces exerted in the creation of each piece. Initially, my work focused solely on functional pieces for private architectural projects. More recently, I have turned my creative efforts to designing and producing finely crafted housewares, furniture and sculpture, outlets that afford more creative leeway for experimentation with materials, process, and form.
Generating new designs using old techniques and crafting unique objects from mundane materials are challenges I face daily in my practice. I incorporate repurposed or recycled materials into my work regularly, whether it be fashioning tools for a specific project from steels salvaged from the scrap yard, or by making a forged vessel using repurposed hundred-year-old wrought iron. Usage of these various materials as well as exploration of technique have been fertile sources of creative inspiration. After I worked as a smith for a number of years, I came to realize the full breadth and width of the craft – not just as a methodology within the material world, but also as a historical tradition and a technology that spans borders and cultures. This realization solidified my dedication to the path of the craftsperson, and I committed fully to the slow, steady accumulation of skill, knowledge and experience that defines mastery of blacksmithing. Demonstrating this proficiency through technical execution is a prominent feature of much of my work, and is a direct expression of my dedication to the role of the modern craftsperson as a repository of inherited knowledge and a spokesperson for a considered, deliberate approach to making that stands in stark contrast to the hurried pace of the digital age. The forged, machined and fabricated objects I create chart the progression of my career and are likewise situated on the wider arc of technology and material culture as the last vestiges of our industrial history give way to the microchip.
