Artist’s Statement

I grew up in the rugged wilderness of the Gobi Desert is Western China where humans roam but are rare. In the desert it is not uncommon to come upon an object seemingly crafted by human hands as might be a religious totem or marker, but it is the work of nature. These objects inspire legends and invite the creation of stories to explain how they were shaped and what they mean.

My works are inspired by these natural sculptures. I seek to find a kind of timelessness, but also a subtle numinocity that certain natural formations have. This is not about color, or representation, but rather about primal natural form that reflects nature’s magic.

Lacquer is a natural organic material that requires intense intervention by hand to give it shape. My technique is Japanese which has a gentle wetness that soothes for me the arid starkness of my Gobi Desert archetype for the natural world.

My work pleases me in its reverence for nature, while adding to it new forms that might have existed, but are in fact inventions wrought by my small hands.