Artist's Statement
I have been making boxes and sculptural containers since I was a teenager. My first pieces were puzzle boxes where the inspiration was to try to make psychological portraits of the intended recipients. I became a full-time artist/boxmaker in 1985, and in the decades since then have made thousands of boxes, drawing inspiration for my pieces from many sources, including mineral formations, modern sculpture, psychology, the human form, and more abstract visual explorations. Over the past five years my inspiration has been the psychological realm of architecture, beginning with the iconic work of Frank Lloyd Wright and moving on to the fantasy architecture of artists such as Gian-Battista Piranesi and M.C.Escher.
In my current architectural work I try to draw the viewer into a world where a sense of scale is lost. In each sculpture box I seek to intensify a specific aspect or emotional quality of the architecture. I’m interested in exploring the dualities of light versus dark and of exterior versus interior, of hidden versus exposed and of openness versus containment. Mostly I’m fascinated with how different spaces have different emotional feels, and I try to manipulate forms, materials and light to create an emotional response beyond the initial sense of curiosity.
It is important to me that my sculptures be containers, and that this is part of the curiosity and interest they attract. I feel that as humans we instinctively respond to containers, as we ourselves are containers for the soul, and that to know that something has an inside, and that some special thing might be contained there, is more than a pleasing conceit. Perhaps it is simplest to say at this point in my career that I like to see myself as part of the long and ancient tradition of reliquary makers. I leave the actual relics to others.
Special Commissions: Portrait Boxes
Sometimes I'm asked to create works of a more personalized nature to honor a special individual or meaningful occasion. For these boxes I interview the client about the meaning and intent of the project, and then use the choice of woods, the overall design, the means of opening, and the number and arrangement of compartments to symbolize important facets of the story I have been told. The resulting box is thus a unique and highly personalized celebration of a treasured relationship, person, or event.
Previous Portrait Boxes have included boxes for a newly married couple from their siblings; for a couple celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary from their children; for a retiring board chairman from his colleagues; for a young man graduating from college, from his father; and for a woman marking the significance of her mother's passing. A selection of past Portrait Boxes may be viewed in that section of the Gallery.
Education
Harvard College '74, Cambridge, MA
Bachelor of Arts, Major in Music
Collections
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Jerry Slocum Puzzles, Beverly Hills, CA
Honors & Awards
2011 Craft New York, Best in Show Award
2005 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Awards Finalist
2004 Washington Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award
1999 Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show - Outstanding Sculptural Objects Award
1996 Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, MA - Craftsman Award
1994 Wadsworth Athenaeum Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award
Pubications
2004 "400 Wood Boxes", T. Lydgate, Lark Publishing
2001 "Celebrating Boxes", P. Lloyd and A. Crawford, Linden Publishers
Invitational Shows
ACC Baltimore Retail Craft Show, Baltimore , MD
American Craft Exposition, Evanston, IL
Crafts at the Castle, Boston, MA
Crafts Boston, Boston, MA
Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
Providence Fine Furnishings Show, Providence, RI
Salon One Hundred Percent Design Shows, New York, NY
Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
Washington Craft Show, Washington, DC
Westchester Craft Show, White Plains, NY