Polarity
This was my first large-format work with Hydrocal plaster. The piece measures almost 2.5 feet wide and 1.5 feet tall. It began as a rectangle of plywood with a thin paper mache mask mounted in the middle with wires mounted on the left side and curved wads of paper mache "waves" on the right. Progressive layers of plaster were applied to give the foundational forms substance and motion within the context of the piece. Acrylic washes and gold paint finished the piece.

The duality of existence is another concept that continues to draw my attention... personally and artistically. We live in a world of polarities - good and evil, light and dark, love and fear - and every choice we make is a navigation of these apparent extremes. But with those archetypal extremes, there would be no existence as we have come to know it. Unless a guitar string is pulled taut, it cannot make music.

I think the same is true of humanity. It is only in the presence of fear that we can be brave, and only through the appearance of cruelty can we be merciful. Without one polar extreme, we cannot know the other. We choose our actions and, in doing so, define the reality around us.