I have been developing a new process for creating bas-relief sculptures for the past couple of years that is showing great promise. To the best of my knowledge, no other artist in the world has yet to discover this process. 

I came upon this new process quite by accident while working on a whimsical cast paper portrait, in relief, of Jackson Pollock. As a part of this sculpture, I wanted to create a Pollock-like sculpture that would show on the wall behind the couch but quickly became stymied in my attempts to model a Jackson Pollock-like abstract expressionist images using any of the many traditional or non-traditional sculpture materials or methods that I have worked with over the past 30 years. 

To those who are unfamiliar with the traditional methods of creating sculpture, let me offer a brief description of the method I used throughout my career. That method entails creating a model of the chosen subject matter in clay. Once the clay model is complete, a rubber mold is made from the model. The mold is a negative of the original clay sculpture that can then be used to cast the work in a variety of media, from paper to bronze. 

As clay didn’t possess the essential fluid characteristics required to create highly complex, truly abstract forms, I struggled to find an idea that would work before recalling a series of Styrofoam models I created for a client. It was then that I began to conceive of the idea of “painting” with hot wax needles and other thermal tools in gestural motions on the surface of a piece of ordinary Styrofoam blue board. As soon as I tried this process that I now call thermal drawing, I knew I was on to something truly special.

As the abstract expressionist image was unfolding before my eyes on the surface of the Styrofoam, I realized that if I was able to fill the cavities on the surface of the blue board the needle created with paper pulp, I would be able to use the blue board as both my canvas and as a mold for casting sculpture. 

After completing the process of “painting” the image on the blue board “canvas” with a hot needle and other thermal tools, I then cleaned the voids left in the surface by my thermal “brushes” of any residue and began the process of pressing the cotton paper pulp into the voids and across the surface of what has now been magically transformed into a sculpture model. 

Since developing this new method of creating sculpture, I have continued to refine my technique and explore the process of creating highly complex, deeply textured surfaces in my work. With my art, I seek to create rhythms that express my inner world and that are emotional and expressive in effect.