I was living in late 1970's Manhattan, working nights composing computer
graphics for Typographic Images, a cutting edge, mid-town
typesetting shop. A
friend introduced me to Abstract Expressionist Seymour Lipton.
Sy was in his eighties, and though still active, in teaching and
design, was unable to do the heavy work involved, in creating his
monumental works. I found myself spending four days a
week at his upper West Side brownstone, cutting, brazing, hammering,
and assembling the elements of his Monel Metal design, while he
spoke, of his life, his work, concepts of design, art, and the
general state of the world.
When I went to him I had well developed metal and stone working
skills focused on a jewelry scale. With him I learned to
imagine on a grander scale while he taught his process for exactly
reproducing a maquette ten, twenty, or a hundred times the size, and
how to evoke an emotional response through tensions created, in
abstract relationships.
Having worked metal minutely, and then
monumentally, I thought to myself, "I've cut and carved
gemstones. How about stone to complement the bronze?" I bought blocks of stone, hammer and
chisels, rasps and files, and set out to learn marble.
Since, as a working artist I've incorporated various media, in the
realization of my ideas. Gold and silver, stone and bronze,
fiberglass and ceramic, wood and plaster, mortar and brick..., all possessing different properties requiring different tools and
technique, to produce a finished form. It's an ongoing,
lifelong study, of the plastic arts.
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