About Mark

I am interested in observing the intersection between nature and technology. Wild and domestic  animals are caught in the cross hairs of humans’ desire for comfort, speed and excess. A human  plows their car into a deer crossing the road. A thoroughbred is euthanized after running a race.  Dry foliage from a warming climate leave wild animals to starve.  

While humans can’t live without technology, animals are challenged to survive it.  With that comes a beautiful pathos, in the distorted forms of a starving moose, a trudging bison,  a bear skin rug or an injured dog.  

Art in the form of drawing, painting and, most of all, sculpture provides a concrete form for  exploring the confluence of nature and technology. This exploration includes reading scientific  articles and books on the species, learning the evolution of their anatomy and physiology, and  studying their relationships to humans. While this study is rewarding in its own right, it also  helps me select the poses, postures and gestures that best convey the animals’ predicament.  

My aesthetic choices are, in part, a rebellion against the perfection of technology — partly a  reflection of my personality and partly an appreciation for the asymmetry of nature. A mule’s  front legs might not be the same length, ears are rarely sculpted in matching sets, and nostrils are  off center. Imperfection, imbalance and incompleteness offer opportunity to play with the form 

and discover what works and what does not, what reflects aliveness and what reflects deadness  — and invites viewers to engage with and project their own feelings onto the sculpture.    

I also hope my sculptures lend words to the those without a voice. There is a growing tidal wave  of interest and action intended to support animals and their habitats, to reduce unnecessary  suffering and provide all sentient beings with a future. I hope that, in some way, my sculptures  add a few drops of energy to this movement.