guardino show

preparing for my show opening at guardino gallery on oct. 27. was inspired last winter by some of the masks i saw mounted on bases with rods in the native american art collection at portland art museum. i’d been invited by guardino gallery to do a show of sculptures that could be displayed on pedestals and decided to make some new masks and use a couple finished masks to mount on bases for the show with my few bronze pieces. i worried that mounting them would make my pieces feel stuck… like butterflies with pins beneath a glass plate. so i chose the wood for each base carefully to resonate with the piece and work (hopefully) like an extension of it. i asked my fine woodworking friend, liz meyer (www.facebook.com/emeyerwoodworks) to craft the bases and mounting system for me. this past year she had found and dug up near the columbia river slough a metal grounding rod that’d been buried for years and she recognized it as a perfect fit in look and feel for the project. i spent some time in liz’s beautiful shop learning a couple most basic woodworking skills and a sweet little bit about the life of trees and wood. the masks are mounted now but not yet angled or secured…she’s almost done. i’m so pleased with her beautiful work. and i believe these mounted masks feel more active and purposeful than those i've made for wall hanging. looking forward to hearing how viewers at the exhibit feel about them.